DANIEL    WEBSTER 


AND    HIS 


CONTEMPORARIES. 


CHAELES   W.    MAEOH. 


FOURTH   EDITION. 


NEW  YORK : 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER,    124    GRAND    STREET. 
1859. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1350,  by 

BAKER   AND    SCRIBNER, 

111    tho   Clcrk'a   Office    of  the    District    Court    of  the  United;  States    for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


PREFACE  TO   THE  FOURTH  EDITION. 


ON  publishing  a  fourth  edition  of  this  work,  it  has  been 
deemed  advisable  to  change  its  title.  "  REMINISCENCES  OP 
CONGRESS"  has  been  considered  a  misnomer.  Such  a  title  is 
no  true  index  of  the  contents  of  the  work,  and  is  not  of  itself 
attractive.  This,  let  us  hope,  is  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  a 
discriminating  public  has  called  but  for  three,  instead  of  nume 
rous  editions  of  the  book. 

As  Mr.  WEBSTER  is  the  principal  figure  of  the  work,  and  no 
one  else  is  spoken  of,  save  in  connection  with  him,  it  has  been 
supposed  that  "DANIEL  WEBSTER  AND  HIS  CONTEMPORARIES" 
would  be  a  more  proper  designation  of  the  volume.  The  name 
of  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  known  and  honoured  for  so  many  years 
throughout  the  world,  has  gained  new  lustre  from  recent  events, 
and  the  public  mind  has  become  more  eager  to  grasp  at  and 
appreciate  whatever  has  been  written  of  his  life  and  deeds. 

C.  W.  MARCH. 
N.  Y.,  July  1st,  1852. 


PREFACE 


IT  was  the  original  design  of  the  author  to  have  given  a 
«.  iries  of  descriptive  sketches  of  scenes  and  persons  in 
Congress,  unconnected  with  any  antecedents  or  relations  v 
the  individuals  introduced ;  but,  finding  on  examination  0* 
what  had  been  written  that  Mr.  Webster  formed  the  prin 
cipal  figure  in  each  effort  of  his  pen,  he  concluded  to  give 
the  book  a  more  personal  character,  and  make  it  an 
approximation  to  a  biography.  This  change  of  design  will 
be  detected  in  any,  the  most  cursory,  glance  at  the  book; 
there  being  a  want  of  congruity  or  unity  too  easily  dis 
cernible  throughout. 

The  writer  need  not  say  that  he  has  not  attempted  a 
complete  biography.  It  is  difficult,  if  not  absolutely  im 
possible,  to  write  the  life  of  the  living.  It  is  not  merely 
that  friendship  would  be  too  partial,  or  enmity  too  censorious, 


IV  PREFACE. 

to  present  a  true  estimate  of  the  character  and  conduct  of 
the  person  illustrated — the  difficulty  in  obtaining  correct 
information  is  greater  during  the  life  of  a  person,  para 
doxical  as  it  may  seem,  than  after  his  decease.  When  one 
eminent  in  life  has  gone  down  to  the  grave,  numbers  come 
forward  with  ambitious  haste,  some  with  letters,  some  with 
anecdotes,  some  with  facts  illustrative  of  the  character 
and  pursuits  of  the  deceased,  and  of  their  relationship  t<> 
him.  The  grief  we  feel  at  the  departure  of  a  distinguished 
friend  is  greatly  mitigated  by  the  public  sympathy  with  our 
loss,  and  we  hasten  to  give  that  sympathy  a  proper  direction. 

Besides,  of  what  we  gain  as  authentic,  we  are  obliged 
to  suppress  a  part ;  if  not  from  regard  to  the  feelings  of 
the  person,  who  is  the  subject  of  our  memoir,  yet  from 
regard  to  the  feelings  of  others  whose  relations  with  him 
might  be  affected  unfavorably  through  our  indiscreetness. 
There  are  many  things  told,  in  the  intimacy  of  friendship, 
m  the  abandon  of  social  intercourse,  that  it  would  be  grossly 
reprehensible  as  well  as  indelicate  to  give  publicity  to. 

The  earlier  part  of  Mr.  Webster's  life,  rapidly  sketched, 
it  was  thought,  would  lend  new  interest  to  his  public  career  ; 
— we  like  to  trace  greatness,  if  possible,  to  its  seminal 
principle,  and  dwell  upon  its  gradual  development  The 
writer  of  these  pages  might  have  given  a  fuller  account  of 
this  part  of  Mr.  Webster's  life,  had  he  not  been  restrained 


PREFACE. 


by  the  fear  of  subjecting  himself  to  a  suspicion  of  having 
made  too  liberal  use  of  the  opportunities  of  private  friend 
ship.  What  has  been  given  he  hopes  will  prove  not  un 
interesting. 

NEW  YORK,  July  18M,  1850 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

PASS 

Birthplace  of  Daniel  Webster— His  Early  Studies— Admission  to 
the  Bar,  and  Practice.  ..... 

CHAPTER  II. 

Entrance  into  Congress — Maiden  Speech — His  Associates — Mr. 
Clay,  Mr.  Calhoun — His  Argument  in  the  Dartmouth  College 
Case.  .  .  "7~~"  ~~T~  .  ~~7~  •  •  31 

CHAPTER  III. 

Removal  to  Boston — Return  to  Congress — Speeches  on  the  Greek 
and  Panama  Questions.  .....  59 

CHAPTER  IV. 

introduction  to  the  "  Hayne  Controversy" — Description  of  Parties 
thereto.  .......  84 

CHAPTER  V. 
First  Speech  in  Reply  to  Hayne — Col.  Hayne's  Retort.  .          107 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Second  Speech  in  Reply  to  Hayne — Descriptive  Narrative  thereof   129 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

PACK 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Continuation  of  the  Hayne  Debate — The  General  Opinion  of  Mr. 
Webster's  Effort — Its  Merit  as  Contrasted  with  other  Speeches.    15* 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Murder  of  Joseph  White  in  Salem,  Mass. — Mr.  Webster's  Argument.  170 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Nullification  Controversy.  ....  181 

CHAPTER    X. 
Various  Speeches  upon  the  Subject.  .  .  .  .201 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Speech  of  Mr  Calhoun— Reply  of  Mr.  Webster.         .  .  224 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Mr.  Webster's  Visit  to  the  West — His  Speeches  on  the  Occasion       244 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Removal  of  the  Deposites — Gen.  Jackson's  Protest — Mr.  Webster's 
Reply 264 


722- 


DANIEL  WEBSTEIU 


CHAPTER    I. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER  was  born  on  the  18th  day  of  January, 
1782,  in  the  town  of  Salisbury,  New  Hampshire.  His  earliest 
ancestor,  of  whom  the  family  has  any  certain  knowledge,  was 
Thomas  Webster.  He  was  settled  in  Hampton  as  early  as 
1636.  The  descent  from  him  to  Daniel  Webster  can  be 
found  recorded  in  the  Church  and  Town  Records  of  Hamp 
ton,  Kingston,  (now  East  Kingston)  and  Salisbury. 

The  family  came  originally  from  Scotland,  two  centuries 
ago  and  more.  It  is  probable,  however,  from  certain  circuiu 
stances,  that  they  tarried  in  England  awhile,  before  emigrat 
ing  to  a  new  world.  They  did  not  bring  over  with  them  all 
the  distinguishing  peculiarities  of  their  countrymen ;  the 
Scottish  accent  had  become  a  mere  tradition,  in  the  time  of 
Mr.  Webster's  father's  father.  The  personal  characteristics 
of  the  family  are  strongly  marked :  light  complexions,  sandy- 
hair  in  great  profusion,  bushy  eyebrows,  and  slender  rather 
than  broad  frames  attest  the  Teutonic  and  common  origin  of 

the  race.     Dr.  Noah  Webster, — the  compiler  of  the  Diction- 
1 


V  CHAPTER    I. 

ary, — was,  in  personal  appearance,  the  vera  effigies  of  tho 
family. 

The  uncles  of  Daniel  Webster  had  the  same  characteristics 
They  were  fair-liair^d.;  tfnc?  of  rather  slender  form.  His  father 
however,  was  of  a  different  physical  organization.  No  two  per 
sons  could  look  like  each  other  less  than  Ezekiel  Webster— 
the  father  of  Daniel — and  cither  of  his  brothers.  They  re 
sembled  their  father,  who  had  the  hereditary  features  and 
form ;  but  Ezekiel  Webster  had  the  black  hair,  eyes,  and 
complexion  of  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Bacheldcr. 
She  was  a  descendant  of  the  Rev.  STEPHEN  BACHELDER,  a 
man  famous  in  his  time,  in  the  County  of  Rockingham,  and 
towns  circumjacent.  There  are  many  persons  now  alive  in 
Kingston,  who  will  tell  you  they  have  heard  their  fathers  say, 
she  was  a  woman  of  uncommon  strength  of  character,  and 
sterling  sense.  Daniel  and  his  only  brother  of  the  whole 
blood,  Ezekiel,  alone  of  the  five  sons  of  Ezekiel  Webster,  had 
the  Bachelder  complexion  ;  the  others  ran  off  into  the  general 
characteristics  of  the  race.  v 

Many  persons  in  Kingston  and  Salisbury  still  live  who  re 
collect  Ebenezer  Webster  well.  They  say  his  personal  ap 
pearance  was  striking.  He  was  tall  and  erect ;  six  feet  in 
height ;  of  a  stalwart  form,  broad  and  full  in  the  chest.  His 
complexion  was  swarthy,  features  large  and  prominent :  with 
a  Roman  nose,  and  eyes  of  a  remarkable  brilliancy.  He  had 
a  military  air  and  carriage, — the  result,  perhaps,  of  his  service 
in  the  army.  -He  enlisted,  early  in  life,  as  a  common  soldier 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  3 

in  the  Provincial  troops,  and  during  the  war  of  '56  served 
under  Gen.  Amherst,  on  the  north-western  frontier ;  ac 
companying  that  commander  in  the  invasion  of  Canada.  He 
attracted  the  attention  and  secured  the  good-will  of  his  su 
perior  officers,  by  his  faithful  and  gallant  conduct ;  and  before 
the  close  of  the  war,  rose  from  the  ranks  to  a  captaincy. 
Peace  between  England  and  France  soon  following  the  capture 
of  Quebec  and  conquest  of  Canada,  the  Provincial  troops  were 
disbanded,  and  returned  to  their  homes. 

Previous  to  the  year  1763,  the  settlements  in  New  Hamp 
shire  had  made  little  or  no  progress  towards  the  interior  of  the 
State,  for  more  than  half  a  century.  The  fitful  irruptions  of 
the  French  from  Canada  and  the  more  constant  if  not  more 
cruel  assaults  of  their  subsidized  allies — the  Indians — repressed 
any  movement  inward,  into  the  country.  To  defend  what 
they  held,  by  a  kind  of  cordon  militaire  of  block-houses,  was 
all  the  frontier-men  hoped. 

The  session  of  Canada,  however,  to  England,  by  the  Treaty 
of  Paris  in  1763,  removing  the  great  obstacle  to  farther  pro 
gress  into  the  interior,  the  royal  Governor  of  New  Hampshire, 
BENNING  WENTWORTH,  began  to  make  grants  of  townships 
in  the  central  part  of  the  State.  Col.  Stevens  with  some  other 
persons  about  Kingston, — mostly  retired  soldiers, — obtained  a 
grant  of  the  township  of  Salisbury,  then  called,  from  the  prin 
cipal  grantee,  Stevens'-town.  This  town  is  situated  exactly 
at  the  head-waters  of  the  Merrimac  River :  which  river  is 
formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  Pemigiwasset  and  Winni- 


4  CHAPTER    I. 

piseogee.  Under  this  grant,  Ebenezer  Webster  obtained  a  lot 
situate  in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  More  adventurous  than 
others  of  the  company  who  obtained  grants,  he  cut  his  way 
deeper  into  the  wilderness,  making  the  road  he  could  not  find. 
Here,  in  1764,  he  built  a  log-cabin  and  lighted  his  fire. 
"  The  smoke  of  which,"  his  son  has  since  said  on  some  public 
occasion,  "  ascended  nearer  the  North  Star  than  that  of  any 
of  his  majesty's  New  England  subjects."  His  nearest  civi 
lized  neighbor  in  the  North  was  at  Montreal,  hundreds  of 
miles  off. 

His  first  wife  dying  soon  after  his  settlement  at  Salisbury, 
Ebenezer  Webster  married  Abigail  Eastman  of  Salisbury, 
a  lady  of  Welsh  extraction.  She  was  the  mother  of 
Daniel  and  Ezekiel ;  and,  like  the  mother  of  George  Canning, 
was  a  woman  of  far  more  than  ordinary  intellect.  She  was 
proud  of,  and  ambitious  for  her  sons  ;  and  the  distinction 
they  both  afterwards  achieved,  may  have  been,  in  part, 
at  least,  the  result  of  her  promptings.  The  mother  knows 
better  than  any  one  the  mollia  tempora  fandi.  She  knows 
what  are  words  in  season  ;  when  the  mind  is  most  ductile, 
and  most  capable  of  impressions  intended  to  be  permanent. 
If  from  our  fathers  we  gain  hardihood,  mental  or  physical, 
and  worldly  wisdom,  in  all  its  variety,  it  is  our  mother,  with 
her  earnest,  devoted,  life-long  love,  that  stimulates  into  healthy 
activity,  whatever  of  good  lies  dormant  in  the  heart ;  in 
spiring  us  to  seek,  if  not  for  our  own  sake,  for  hers,  honor 
able  position,  and  an  unequalled  name. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  O 

Ebenezer  Webster  commemorated  his  second  marriage,  by 
the  erection  of  a  frame-house,  hard  by  the  log  cabin.  He  dug 
a  well  near  it,  and  planted  an  elm  sapling.  In  this  house,  the 
subject  of  our  memoir  was  born.  The  house  has  long  since 
disappeared,  from  roof  to  foundation-stone.  Nothing  indi 
cates  its  sometime  existence  but  a  cellar  mostly  filled  up  by 
stone  and  earth.  But  the  well  still  remains,  with  water  as 
pure,  as  cool,  as  limpid,  as  when  first  turned  to  the  light :  and 
will  remain,  in  all  probability,  for  ages,  to  refresh  hereafter 
the  votaries  of  genius,  who  make  their  pilgrimage  hither  to 
visit  the  cradle  of  one  of  her  greatest  sons.  The  elm  that 
shaded  the  boy  still  flourishes  in  vigorous  leaf,  and  may  have 
an  existence  beyond  its  perishable  nature.  Like  "  the  witch- 
elm  that  guards  St.  Fillan's  Spring,"  it  may  live  in  story,  long 
after  leaf,  and  branch,  and  root  have  disappeared  for  ever. 

It  is  a  belief,  I  suspect  almost  universal,  that  natural 
scenery  has  great  power  over  the  development  of  character, 
moral  and  intellectual.  That  upon  the  impressionable  mind 
of  infancy,  scenes,  whether  remarkable  for  traditionary  inte 
rest,  sublimity,  ruggedness,  or  loveliness,  stamp  sensations 
of  an  indelible  character ;  awaken,  if  they  do  not  create, 
the  poetic  faculty.  Burns,  Byron,  Burke,  and  Scott,  are 
claimed  by  their  several  biographers  as  conclusive  illustrations 
of  the  influence,  picturesque  nature  exercises  over  the  imagi 
nation  and  heart.  The  countless  treasures  of  fancy  and 
beauty,  the  high  and  solemn  thoughts,  the  poetic  fervor  and 
luxuriant  imagination  which  characterise,  in  a  greater  or  less 


CHAPTER    I. 


degree,  the  productions  of  these  extraordinary  men  may 
have  been  suggested,  or  at  least  fully  developed,  by  the 
striking  features  of  the  scenery,  in  the  midst  of  which  their 
earlier  days  were  passed.  The  romantic  localities  of  Ayr, 
the  wild  and  picturesque  scenery  of  the  Highlands  near  Balla 
trech,  the  rich,  deep,  and  gorgeous  views  near  by  the  old 
castle  of  Kilcolman — once  the  favorite  residence  of  the  poet 
Spenser — and  the  vicinity  of  Sandy  Knowe,  with  its  crags 
and  cliffs,  its  ruined  towers,  and  "  mountains  lone,"  severally 
the  residences  in  early  youth  of  Burns,  Byron,  Burke  and 
Scott,  may  have  given  rise  to  feelings,  which,  increasing  with 
earnest  nourishment,  till  they  became  irrepressible  from  indul 
gence,  found  suitable  expression  afterwards  in  beautiful  and 
nervous  diction  ;  in  heroic  verse,  or  glowing  prose. 

There  is  little  softness  or  subdued  expression  in  the  features 
of  the  landscape  round  about  Mr.  Webster's  birth-place. 
The  bleak,  harsh,  stern  hills,  among  which  his  cradle  hung 
high  in  the  air,  like  the  eyrie  of  an  eagle,  are  all  untamed, 
untam cable.  But  in  their  sadness,  and  deep  but  not  voice 
less  solemnity,  they  are  suggestive  of  lonely  musings  and 
thoughts  original  and  lofty  as  themselves.  They  feed  the 
hungry  mind  with  images  noble,  elevated,  and  partaking  of 
their  own  immortality.  The  laboring  clouds  in  their  vague 
career,  often  rested  on  the  summits  of  these  hills,  covering 
them  over  as  with  a  garment,  so  that  they  presented  at  times 
to  the  belated  traveller  of  the  valleys,  the  appearance  of  tur- 
baned  giants.  Their  scarred  fac<\s  attested  the  violence  of 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


the  tempests  that  ranged  around  them,  and  beat  upon  them. 
In  winter,  which  lasted  half  the  year,  snows  of  a  prodigious 
and  dangerous  depth  covered  the  ground,  obliterating  every 
landmark,  and  giving  to  all  nature  an  aspect  of  desolate  sub 
limity.  While,  sometimes,  in  spring,  a  sudden  and  vast  thaw 
would  unloosen  the  embrace  with  which  the  snows  held  on  to 
the  mountains,  and  precipitate  them  in  fearful  volume,  with 
the  force  and  rush  of  the  avalanche,  into  the  valleys  below  ; 
making  of  quiet  streams  mighty  rivers,  dangerous  to  ford  or 
even  approach ;  the  crash  of  the  pines  in  the  woods,  as  they 
were  borne  to  the  earth  by  the  superincumbent  mass  of  snow, 
performing  fit  accompaniment  to  the  scene. 

In  Mr.  Webster's  earliest  youth  an  occurrence  of  such  a  na 
ture  took  place,  which  affected  him  deeply  at  the  time,  and 
has  dwelt  in  his  memory  ever  since.  There  was  a  sudden  and 
extraordinary  rise  in  the  Merimac  River,  in  a  spring  thaw.  A 
deluge  of  rain  for  two  whole  days  poured  down  upon  the  houses. 
A  mass  of  mingled  water  and  snow  rushed  madly  from  the  hills, 
inundating  the  fields  far  and  wide.  The  highways  were  broken 
up,  and  rendered  undistinguishable.  There  was  no  way  for 
neighbors  to  interchange  visits  of  condolence  or  necessity, 
save  by  boats,  which  came  up  to  the  very  door-steps  of  the 
houses. 

Many  things  of  value  were  swept  away,  even  things  of  bulk. 
A  large  barn,  full  fifty  feet  by  twenty,  crowded  with  hay  and 
grain,  sheep,  chickens  and  turkeys,  sailed  majestically  down  the 
river,  before  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  inhabitants  ;  who,  no 


8  CHAPTER    I. 

little  frightened,  got  ready  to  fly  to  the  mountains,  or  construct 
another  Ark. 

The  roar  of  waters,  as  they  rushed  over  precipices,  casting 
the  foam  and  spray  far  above,  the  crashing  of  the  forest-trees 
as  the  storm  broke  through  them,  the  immense  sea  everywhere 
in  range  of  the  eye,  the  sublimity,  even  danger  of  the  scene, 
made  an  indelible  impression  upon  the  mind  of  the  youthful 
observer. 

Occurrences  and  scenes  like  these  excite  the  imaginative 
faculty,  furnish  material  for  proper  thought,  call  into  existence 
new  emotions,  give  decision  to  character,  and  a  purpose  to  ac 
tion. 

It  was  the  great  desire  of  Ebenezer  Webster  to  give  his 
children  an  education.  A  man  of  strong  powers  of  mind 
and  much  practical  knowledge  himself,  he  still  had  felt  deeply 
and  often  the  want  of  early  education,  and  wished  to  spare  his 
sons  the  mortification  he  had  experienced.  The  schoolmaster 
then  was  not  abroad,  at  least  had  not  visited  Salisbury  in  his 
travels.  Small  town-schools  there  were,  it  is  true,  and  persons 
superintending  them  called  teachers — lucus  a  nan  luccndo. 
But  these  schools  were  not  open  half  the  year,  and  the  school 
masters  had  no  claim  to  the  position  but  their  incapacity  for 
anything  else.  Their  qualification  was  their  want  of  qualifica 
tion.  Reading  and  writing  were  all  they  professed,  and  more 
than  they  were  able,  to  teach. 

The  school  was  migratory.  When  it  was  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  Webster  residence,  it  was  easy  to  attend ;  but 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  I 

when  it  was  removed  into  another  part  of  the  town,  or  another 
town,  as  was  often  the  case,  it  was  somewhat  difficult.  While 
Mr.  Webster  was  quite  young,  he  was  daily  sent  two  miles  and 
a  half  or  three  miles  to  school,  and,  in  the  midst  of  winter,  on 
foot.  For  carriages  or  carriage-roads  then  "  were  not ;"  and, 
with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  ride  on  horseback,  he 
walked  daily  to  school  and  back.  If  the  school  moved  yet 
farther  off,  into  a  town  not  contiguous,  his  father  boarded  him 
out  in  a  neighboring  family.  He  was  better  provided  with  op 
portunities  for  obtaining  whatever  of  instruction  these  schools 
could  impart  than  his  elder  brothers,  partly  because  he  evinced 
early  an  irrepressible  thirst  for  study  and  information,  and 
partly  because  his  father  thought  that  his  constitution  was 
slender  and  somewhat  frail — too  much  so  for  any  robust  occu 
pation.  But  Joe,  his  elder  half-brother,  who  was  somewhat 
of  a  wag,  used  to  say  that  "  Dan  was  sent  to  school,  in  order 
that  he  might  know  as  much  as  the  other  boys." 

Mr.  Webster  had  no  sooner  learnt  to  read,  than  he  showed 
great  eagerness  for  books.  He  devoured  all  he  could  lay  hands 
upon.  When  he  was  unable  to  obtain  new  ones,  he  read  the 
old  ones  over  and  over,  till  he  had  committed  most  of  their 
contents  to  memory.  Books  were  then  (as  Dr.  Johnson  said 
on  some  occasion)  "  like  bread  in  a  besieged  town  ;  every  man 
might  get  a  mouthful,  but  none  a  full  meal."  What  were  ob 
tained,  were  husbanded  with  care.  Owing  chiefly  to  the  exer 
tions  of  Mr.  Thompson,  (the  lawyer  of  the  place,)  of  the  cler 
gyman,  and  Mr.  Webster's  father,  a  very  small  circulating  li- 


10  CHAPTER    I 

brary  was  purchased.  These  institutions  about  this  time  re 
ceived  an  impetus  from  the  zeal  and  labors  of  Dr.  Belknap 
the  celebrated  historian  of  New  Hampshire. 

Among  the  few  books  of  the  library,  I  have  heard  Mr. 
Webster  say,  he  found  the  Spectator,  and  that  he  remembers 
turning  over  the  leaves  of  Addison's  Criticism  upon  Chevj? 
Chase,  for  the  sake  of  reading,  connectedly,  the  ballad,  the 
verses  of  which  Addison  quotes  from  time  to  time,  as  subjects 
of  remark.  "  As  Dr.  Johnson  said,  in  another  case,  the  poet 
was  read,  and  the  critic  neglected.  I  could  not  understand 
why  it  was  necessary  that  the  author  of  the  Spectator  should 
take  so  great  pains  to  prove  that  Chevy  Chase  was  a  good 
story." 

The  simple,  but  sublime  story  of  Chevy  Chase,  would  be  no 
indifferent  test  for  the  discovery  of  how  much  or  how  little  of 
the  poetic  faculty  there  might  be  in  an  individual.  None  but 
those  who  had  some  poetic  fervor  could  appreciate  or  even  un 
derstand  it :  while  those  who  felt  its  pathos,  its  beauty  and 
grandeur  most,  needs  must  have  the  deepest  sensibilities.  A 
distinguished  literary  character  has  said  that  he  would  have 
been  prouder  to  have  been  its  author  than  of  all  the  productions 
from  which  he  derived  his  fame.  Sir  Philip  Sydney  said  he 
never  read  it  but  his  heart  was  stirred  within  him  as  at  the 
sound  of  a  trumpet. 

Mr.  Webster  was  early  very  fond  of  poetry.  He  was  not 
satisfied  with  reading  it  merely,  but  committed  a  great  deal  to 
memory.  The  whole  Essay  on  Man  he  could  recite  verbatim 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  11 

before  he  was  fourteen  years  old.  A  habit  of  attentive  exclusive 
devotion  to  the  subject  before  him,  aided  by  a  wonderful 
memory,  fixed  everything  deeply  in  his  mind.  It  is  this  art, 
or  talent,  or  genius,  that  works  the  miracles  we  read  and  be 
hold  He  had  a  great  taste,  too,  for  devotional  poetry  :  Watts' 
Psalms  and  Hymns  he  committed  to  memory,  not  as  a  re 
ligious  task,  but  as  a  pleasure.  Nor  was  he  less  fond  of,  or 
less  acquainted  with,  the  sublime  poetry  of  the  Bible.  Evi 
dence  of  this  is  found  everywhere  in  his  works  :  for  there  is 
scarcely  a  speech  or  production  of  his  that  does  not  contain 
ideas  or  expressions,  the  types  of  which  may  be  found  in  that 
book. 

When  he  had  attained  his  fourteenth  year,  his  father  took 
an  important  and  decisive  step  with  him.  On  the  25th  day 
of  May,  1796,  Ebenezer  Webster  mounted  his  horse,  put  his 
son  on  another  and  proceeded  with  him  to  Exeter.  He  there 
placed  him  in  Phillip's  academy,  then  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Benjamin  Abbot,  its  well-known  and  respected  President. 
The  change  was  very  great  to  a  boy,  who  had  never  been  from 
home  before,  and  who  now  found  himself  among  some  ninety 
other  boys, — a  stranger  among  strangers, — all  of  whom  had 
probably  seen  more  of  the  world,  and  assumed  to  know  so 
much  more  of  it,  than  himself.  But  he  was  not  long  in  re 
conciling  himself  to  the  change,  and  to  his  new  duties.  He 
was  immediately  put  to  English  grammar,  writing  and  arith 
metic.  A  class-mate  of  his  has  informed  me  that  he  mastered 
the  principles  and  philosophy  of  the  first,  between  May  and 


12  CHAPTER    I. 

October  of  that  year  5  and  that  in  the  other  studies  he  made 
respectable  progress  ;  in  the  autumn  he  commenced  the  study 
of  the  Latin  language ;  his  first  exercises  in  which  were  re 
cited  to  JOSEPH  STEVENS  BUCKMINSTER,  who  was  acting  (in 
some  college  vacation,  I  think)  as  assistant  to  Dr.  Abbott. 

It  may  appear  somewhat  singular  that  the  greatest  orator 
of  modern  times  should  have  evinced  in  his  boyhood  the 
strongest  antipathy  to  public  declamation.  This  fact,  however, 
is  established  by  his  own  words,  which  have  recently  appeared 
in  print.  "  I  believe,"  says  Mr.  Webster,  "  I  made  tolerable 
progress  in  most  branches,  which  I  attended  to,  while  in  this 
school ;  but  there  was  one  thing  I  could  not  do.  I  could  not 
make  a  declamation.  I  could  not  speak  before  the  school. 
The  kind  and  excellent  Buckminster  sought  especially  to  per 
suade  me  to  perform  the  exercise  of  declamation,  like  other 
boys,  but  I  could  not  do  it.  Many  a  piece  did  I  commit  to 
memory,  and  recite  and  rehearse  in  my  own  room,  over  and 
over  again ;  yet  when  the  day  came,  when  the  school  collected 
to  hear  declamations,  when  my  name  was  called,  and  I  saw 
all  eyes  turned  to  my  seat,  I  could  not  raise  myself  from  it. 
Sometimes  the  instructors  frowned,  sometimes  they  smiled. 
Mr.  Buckminster  always  pressed  and  entreated,  most  winning- 
ly,  that  I  would  venture.  But  I  never  could  command  suf 
ficient  resolution."  Such  diffidence  of  its  own  powers  may  be 
natural  to  genius,  nervously  fearful  of  being  unable  to  reach 
that  ideal  which  it  proposes  as  the  only  full  consummation  of 
its  wishes.  It  is  fortunate,  however,  for  the  age,  fortunate  for 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  13 

all  ages,  that  Mr.  Webster  by  determined  will  and  frequent 
trial  overcame  this  moral  incapacity — as  his  great  prototype, 
the  Grecian  orator,  subdued  his  physical  defect. 

He  remained  at  the  Exeter  academy  but  a  few  months 
accomplishing  in  these  few  months,  however,  the  work  of  years 
*o  some.  In  February,  1797,  his  father  placed  him  under 
the  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Woods,  in  Boscawen  ;  of  whom 
his  pupil  always  speaks  in  terms  of  affection  and  respect.  He 
boarded  in  his  family ;  and  I  have  heard  him  say  that  Mr. 
Woods'  whole  charge  for  instruction,  board,  &c.,  was  but  one 
dollar  per  week.  We  pay  much  dearer  now  for  much  less. 

It  was  on  their  way  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Woods  that  his 
father  first  opened  to  him  his  design  of  sending  him  to  college 
— a  purpose  that  seemed  to  him  impossible  to  be  fulfilled.  .It 
was  so  much  more  extravagant  than  his  most  extravagant 
hopes.  It  had  never  entertained  his  mind  a  moment.  A  col 
legiate  education  in  those  days  was  something  of  far  greater 
importance  than  in  these,  when  the  ability  to  command  it  is 
so  general.  It  made  a  marked  man  of  thousands.  It  gave 
the  fortunate  graduate  at  once  position  and  influence  ;  and,  if 
not  genius,  or  eminent  ability,  supplied  or  concealed  the  want 
thereof.  The  alumnus  surveyed  life  from  an  eminence,  and 
could  aspire  to  its  chiefest  honors  by  a  kind  of  prescriptive 
right. 

Most  grateful  to  his  father  for  the  prospect  held  out  through 
his  self-sacrificing  devotion,  Mr.  Webster  applied  himself  to 
his  studies  with  even  increased  ardor.  All  that  Mr.  Woods 


14  CHAPTER    I. 

could  teach  he  learnt.  Among  other  books,  he  read  Virgil 
and  Cicero,  both  of  whom  he  faithfully  studied,  the  latter  ho 

warmly  admired.     Of  the  Latin  classics,  I  presume,  there  is 

/ 

not  one  so  familiarly  known  to  Mr.  "Webster  as  Cicero.  It 
may  seem  a  little  strange,  indeed,  that  with  all  his  early,  eager 
and  constant  study  of  Rome's  greatest  orator,  he  should  not 
have  imitated  unconsciously  his  manner  of  expression  or 
thought.  He  much  more  resembles  Demosthenes,  in  vigor 
and  terseness  of  expression,  and  in  copious  vehemence  ;  whose 
works,  in  the  meanwhile,  he  never  so  completely  mastered. 

At  Boscawen,  Mr.  Webster  was  fortunate  to  find  another 
circulating  library,  the  volumes  of  which  he  fully  appreciated 
It  was  in  this  library,  he  met,  for  the  first  time,  Don  Quixote 
in  English.  "  I  began  to  read  it,"  (I  have  heard  him  say,) 
"  and  it  is  literally  true  that  I  never  closed  my  eyes  till  I  had 
finished  it ;  nor  did  I  lay  it  down  any  time  for  five  minutes  , 
so  great  was  the  power  of  this  extraordinary  book  on  my 
imagination." 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  August,  1797,  he  entered 
Dartmouth  College,  as  a  freshman. 

His  college  life,  it  can  be  easily  believed,  was  not  an  idle 
one.  With  such  a  desire  for  the  acquisition  of  all  kinds  of 
knowledge,  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  was,  he  would  un 
dertake  too  much  rather  than  too  little ;  that  his  reading 
would  be  too  miscellaneous,  and  that  he  would  acquire,  there 
from,  habits  of  mental  carelessness.  From  the  testimony  of 
his  intimates  in  college,  it  is  known  that  he  read  constantly. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  15 

Besides  a  regular  attention  to  the  prescribed  studies  of  his 
class,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  acquisition  of  whatever  was 
useful  in  English  history,  or  graceful  and  becoming  in  English 
literature.  He  superintended  also  the  publication  of  a  little 
weekly  newspaper,  making  selections  for  it  from  books  and 
periodicals,  and  contributing,  occasionally,  an  editorial  of  his 
own.  These  were,  perhaps,  the  first  of  his  productions  ever 
published.  I  know  not  if  they  are  to  be  met  with  now.  He 
delivered  some  addresses  while  in  college,  before  literary  so 
cieties,  which  also  were  published. 

Ezekiel  Webster — the  sole  brother  of  Daniel  of  the  whole 
blood — was  destined  by  his  father  to  remain  at  home  and 
carry  on  the  farm.  But  he  had  aspirations  beyond  this,  and 
so  had  his  brother  for  him.  Accordingly,  when  Daniel  re 
turned  home  on  a  visit  in  his  sophomore  year,  in  the  spring  of 
'99,  he  held  serious  consultation  with  his  brother  Ezekiel,  in 
relation  to  his  wishes.  It  was  resolved  between  them,  that 
Ezekiel  too  should  go  to  college,  and  that  Daniel  should  be 
the  organ  of  communication  with  their  father  on  the  subject. 
He  lost  no  time  in  opening  the  negotiation,  and  experienced 
no  great  difficulty  iu  obtaining  the  consent  of  his  father,  who 
lived  only  for  his  children,  to  their  design.  The  result  was 
that  in  about  ten  days,  Mr.  "Webster  had  gone  back  to  college, 
having  first  seen  his  brother  bid  adieu  to  the  farm,  and  place 
himself  in  school  under  a  teacher  in  Latin.  Soon  afterwards 
Ezekiel  went  to  Mr.  Woods,  and  remained  with  him  till  he 


16  CHAPTER    I. 

was  fitted  for  college.     In    March,  1801,  his  father  carried 
him  to  college,  where  he  joined  the  Freshman  class. 

He  had  not  great  quickness  of  apprehension  nor  vivacity  of 
intellect  and  was  not  therefore  early  estimated  at  his  full 
value.  But  he  had  a  strong  mind,  great  powers  of  observa 
tion,  and  memory.  He  acquired  slowly  but  safely.  Not 
fluent  of  speech,  he  was  correct  always  in  language  and 
thought.  Few  excelled  him  in  clearness  or  vigor  of  style, 
none  in  argumentative  ability.  He  wanted  but  opportunity  to 
have  been  a  great  man. 

He  fell  dead,  while  arguing  a  cause  in  Concord,  New  Hamp 
shire,  in  1829.  A  handsome  monument  was  erected  to  his 
memory  in  Boscawen,  where  he  was  buried. 

Mr.  Webster,  while  in  college,  during  the  winter  vacations, 
kept  school,  to  pay  the  collegiate  expenses  of  his  brother  as 
well  as  his  own.  Being  graduated  in  August,  1801,  he 
immediately  entered  Mr.  Thompson's  office  in  Salisbury,  as  a 
student  of  law,  and  remained  there  till  January  following. 
The  res  angusta  domi  seemed  then  to  require  that  he  should 
go  somewhere  and  do  something  to  earn  a  little  money.  An  ap 
plication  was  at  this  time  made  to  him  from  Fryeburg,  Maine,  to 
take  charge  of  a  school  there.  He  accepted  the  offer,  mount 
ed  his  horse,  and  commenced  his  labors  on  reaching  Fryeburg. 
His  salary  was  $350  per  annum,  all  of  which  he  saved  ;  as  he 
made  besides  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  his  board  and  other 
necessary  expenses,  by  acting  as  assistant  to  the  Register  of 
Deeds  for  the  County,  to  whose  chirography  there  was  the  one 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  17 

objection  of  illegibility.  The  ache  is  not  yet  out  of  his  fingers 
— I  have  heard  Mr.  Webster  say — which  so  much  writing 
caused  them. 

In  Fryeburg,  he  found  also  a  circulating  library,  which  he 
ran  through.  Here  he  borrowed  and  read  for  the  first  time 
JBlackstone's  Commentaries.  Among  other  mental  exercises, 
he  committed  to  memory  Mr.  Ames'  celebrated  speech  on  the 
British  Treaty. 

In  September,  1802,  he  returned  to  Mr.  Thompson's  office, 
in  which  he  remained  till  February,  1804.  Mr.  Thompson 
was  an  excellent  man  and  a  respectable  lawyer ;  but  he  did 
not  understand  how  to  make  the  study  of  the  law  either  agree 
able  or  instructive.  He  put  his  students  to  study  after  the 
old  fashion,  that  is,  the  hardest  books  first.  Coke's  Littleton 
was  the  book  in  those  days  upon  which  pupils  were  broken  in, 
• — which  is  like  teaching  arithmetic,  by  beginning  with  difer- 
ential  calculus.  "A  boy  of  twenty,"  says  Mr.  Webster, 
"  with  no  previous  knowledge  on  such  subjects  cannot  under 
stand  Coke.  It  is  folly  to  set  him  upon  such  an  author. 
There  are  propositions  in  Coke  so  abstract,  and  distinctions 
so  nice,  and  doctrines  embracing  so  many  conditions  and 
qualifications,  that  it  requires  an  effort  not  only  of  a  mature 
mind,  but  of  a  mind  both  strong  and  mature,  to  understand 
him.  Why  disgust  and  discourage  a  boy  by  telling  him  he 
must  break  through  into  his  profession  through  such  a  wall 
as  this  r" 

Mr.  Webster  soon  laid  aside  Coke  till  "  a  more  convenient 
2 


18  CHAPTER    I. 

season,"  and,  in  the  meanwhile,  took  up  other  more  plain, 
easy,  and  intelligible  authors. 

While  not  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law,  he  occupied 
himself  with  the  Latin  classics.     He  added  greatly  to  what 
acquisitions  he  had  made  in' the  language,  while  in   college 
reading  Sallust,  Cossar,  and  Horace.     Some  odes  of  the  latter 
which  he  translated  into  English,  were  published. 

But  books  were  not  at  this  time  of  his  life,  as  they  never 
have  been,  Mr.  "Webster's  sole  study.  He  then  was  fond,  and 
has  been  through  life,  of  the  manly  field  sports, — fishing, 
shooting  and  riding.  These  brought  him  into  near  communion 
with  Nature  and  himself;  supplied  him  with  the  material  and 
opportunity  for  thought;  made  him  contemplative,  logical 
and  earnest.  At  a  subsequent  period  of  his  life,  he  found 
that  the  solitary  rides  he  was  wont  to  indulge  in  afforded  him 
many  an  edifying  day.  The  great  argument  in  the  Dartmouth 
College  case  was  principally  arranged  in  a  tour  he  made  from 
Boston  to  Barnstable  and  back.  John  Adams'  speech  before 
the  Philadelphia  Convention  in  '76,  was  composed  by  Mr. 
Webster,  while  taking  a  drive  in  a  New  England  chaise.  His 
favorite  sport  of  angling  gave  him  many  a  favorable  opportunity 
for  composition.  The  address  for  Bunker  Hill  (for  instance) 
was  all  planned  out  even  to  many  of  its  best  passages,  in 
Marskpee  Brook  ;*  the  orator  catching  trout  and  elaborating 
sentences,  at  the  same  time. 

*  It  is  said — I  know  not  upon  what  authority — that  as  the  orator 
drew  in  some  /rout  particularly  large,  he  was  heard  to  exclaim  :  "  Ven- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.     .  19 

A  like  fondness  for  solitary  rambles  and  sequestered  spots, 
is  said  to  have  characterized  Canning  and  Burke ;  who  found 
their  fancies  brighten  and  their  philosophy  invigorated  by  this 
self-communion.  With  them,  as  with  the  Roman  Lawgiver. 
Egeria,  avoiding  crowds  and  bustling  life,  was  to  be  met  with 
only  in  solitude.  So  true  is  it  that  the  intellectual  man  is 
never  less  alone  than  when  alone  ;  that  to  him  his  mind  a 
kingdom  is,  and  his  own  thoughts  his  most  agreeable  and  in 
structive  companions. 

In  July,  1804,  Mr.  Webster  went  to  Boston,  and,  afteA- 
some  unsuccessful  applications  elsewhere,  obtained  admission 
as  a  student  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Christopher  Gore,  who 
had  then  just  returned  from  England,  and  resumed  the  prac 
tice  of  law.  It  was  a  most  fortunate  event  for  Mr.  Web 
ster.  Mr.  G-ore  was  no  less  distinguished  as  a  lawyer,  than  as 
a  statesman  and  publicist, — eminent  in  each  character, — and 
was  besides  one  of  the  rare  examples  of  the  highest  intellectual 
qualities  united  with  sound,  practical,  keen  common  sense. 
He  knew  mankind  no  less  than  books  ;  and  the  wisdom  he  de 
rived  from  the  study  of  both,  he  could  impart,  in  most  impres 
sive  language.  With  him  Mr.  Webster  enjoyed  the  best  op 
erable  men!  you  have  come  down  to  us  from  a  former  gereration. 
Heaven  has  bounteously  lengthened  out  your  lives,  that  you  might  behold 
his  joyous  day."  As  these  identical  sentences  appeared  afterwards  in 
he  Bunker- Hill  Address,  it  would  seem  as  if  there  was  some  plausibility 
fc>r  the  story.  At  least,  one  can  say  with  the  Italian, — Si  non 
bene  trovato. 


20  CHAPTER    I 

portunity  thus  far  of  his  life  for  studying  books,  and  men,  and 
things  ;  and  he  made  the  Lest  use  of  the  opportunity.  He 
attended  the  session  of  the  Supreme  Court  which  sat  in  August 
of  this  year,  constantly,  and  reported  all  its  decisions.  He 
also  reported  the  decisions  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States.  He  read  diligently  and  carefully  the  books,  generally, 
of  the  Common  and  Municipal  Law,  and  the  best  authorities 
on  the  Law  of  Nations,  some  of  them  for  the  third  time,  ac 
companying  these  studies  with  a  vast  variety  of  miscellaneous 
reading.  His  chief  study,  however,  was  the  Common  Law, 
and  more  especially  that  part  of  it  which  relates  to  the  science 
of  Special  Pleading.  This,  one  of  the  most  ingenious  and  re 
fined,  and  at  the  same  time  instructive  and  useful  branches  of 
the  law,  he  pursued  with  constant  devotion.  Besides  appro 
priating  whatever  he  could  of  this  part  of  the  science  from 
Viner,  Bacon,  and  other  books  then  in  common  study,  he 
waded  through  Saunder's  Reports — the  old  folio  edition — and 
abstracted  and  put  into  English,  out  of  the  Latin  and  Norman- 
French,  the  pleadings,  in  all  the  reports.  This  undertaking, 
both  as  an  exercise  of  the  mind,  and  as  an  acquisition  of  useful 
learning,  was  of  great  advantage  to  him  in  his  succeeding  pro 
fessional  career. 

An  anecdote  I  have  heard  Mr.  Webster  tell  in  relation  to 
his  first  interview  with  a  gentleman,  then  and  afterwards  dis 
tinguished  in  the  history  of  the  country,  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  relate  here.  "  I  remember  one  day,"  says  Mr.  "Webster, 
"  as  I  was  alone  in  the  office,  a  man  came  in  and  asked  for 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  21 

Mr.  Gore.  Mr,  Gore  was  out,  and  he  sat  down  to  wait  for 
him.  He  was  dressed  in  plain  grey  clothes.  I  went  on  with 
my  book,  till  he .  asked  me  what  I  was  reading,  and,  coming 
along  up  to  the  table,  took  the  book  and  looked  at  it.  l  Roc- 
cus,'  said  he,  f  de  navibus  et  nandoS  "Well,  I  read  that  book 
too  when  I  was  a  boy  ;'  and  proceeded  to  talk  not  only  about 
c  ships  and  freights,'  but  insurance,  prize,  and  other  matters  of 
maritime  law,  in  a  manner  c  to  put  me  up  to  all  I  knew,'  and  a 
good  deal  more.  The  grey-coated  stranger  turned  out  to  be 
Mr.  Rufus  King.' 

In  March,  1805,  Mr.  Webster  was  admitted  to  practice,  in 
the  Suffolk  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  The  custom  then  pre 
vailed  for  the  patron  to  accompany  his  pupil  into  Court,  intro 
duce  him  to  the  Judges,  make  a  brief  speech  in  commendation 
of  his  studious  conduct  and  attainments,  and  then  move  for  his 
admission  to  the  Bar.  A  person  present  on  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  "Webster's  admission,  informs  me  that  he  remembers  al 
most  every  word  of  Mr.  Gore's  speech,  and  that  it  contained, 
among  other  things,  a  prediction  of  his  pupil's  future  profes 
sional  distinction.  In  all  probability  the  prediction,  as  is 
generally  the  case,  aided  its  own  accomplishment  Certainly, 
the  favorable  opinion  of  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Gore  must  have 
been  an  additional  incentive  to  Mr.  Webster's  ambitious  hopes 
and  efforts. 

How  much,  after  all,  are  the  great  men  and  events  of  his 
tory,  apparently,  the  sport  of  accidents  !  The  destiny  of  in 
dividuals,  and  no  less  of  nations,  seems  not  so  much  the  re- 


22  CHAPTER    I 

suit  of  foresight  or  determination,  as  of  casual  opinion  or 
caprice  ;  or  of  circumstances,  more  uncertain  than  either.  An 
adverse  wind,  neither  to  be  anticipated  nor  overcome,  kept  the 
brewer's  son  within  the  shores  of  England,  as  he  sought  in  a 
foreign  clime  the  liberty  of  conscience  refused  him  at  home, 
and  made  him  absolute  master  of  his  country's  fortunes.  An 
unsuccessful  application  for  the  Professorship  of  Logic  ir. 
Glasgow  University  precipitated  Edmund  Burke  upon  his  owr. 
energies,  and  gave  to  England  its  greatest  philosophical  orator 
The  offer  of  the  clerkship  of  a  county  court,  unexpected  bu ; 
not  ungrateful,  might,  but  for  the  earnest  interposition  of  one 
man,  have  deprived  America  and  the  world  of  an  intellect,  of 
which  neither  America  nor  the  world  knows  now  the  equal. 

The  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  county  of 
Hillsborough,  New  Hampshire,  resigned  his  office  in  January, 
1805.  Mr.  Webster's  father  was  one  of  the  judges  of  this 
court ;  and  his  colleagues,  from  regard  for  him,  tendered  his 
son  the  vacant  clerkship.  It  was  what  Judge  Webster  had 
long  desired.  The  office  was  worth  $1500  per  annum,  which 
was  in  those  days,  and  in  that  neighborhood,  a  competency  ; 
or  rather  absolute  wealth.  Mr,  Webster  himself  considered 
it  a  great  prize,  and  was  eager  to  accept  it.  He  weighed  the 
question  in  his  mind.  On  the  one  side  he  saw  immediate 
comfort ;  on  the  other,  at  the  best,  a  doubtful  struggle.  By 
its  acceptance,  he  made  sure  his  own  good  condition,  and, 
what  was  nearer  to  his  heart,  that  of  his  family.  By  its  re 
fusal,  he  condemned  both  himself  and  them  to  an  uncertain, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  23 

and  probably,  harrassing  future.  Whatever  aspirations  he 
might  have  cherished  of  professional  distinction/he  was  will 
ing  cheerfully  to  relinquish,  to  promote  the  immediate  wel 
fare  of  those  he  held  most  dear. 

But  Mr.  G-ore  peremptorily  and  vehemently  interposed  his 
dissent.  He  urged  every  argument  against  the  purpose.  He 
exposed  its  absurdity  and  its  inconsequence.  He  appealed  to 
the  ambition  of  his  pupil ;  once  a  clerk,  he  said,  he  always 
would  be  a  clerk — there  would  be  no  step  upwards.  He  at 
tacked  him,  too,  on  the  side  of  his  family  affection ;  telling 
him  that  he  would  be  far  more  able  to  gratify  his  friends  from 
his  professional  labors  than  in  the  clerkship.  "  Go  on,"  he 
said,  "  and  finish  your  studies  ;  you  are  poor  enough,  but 
there  are  greater  evils  than  poverty  ;  live  on  no  man's  favor ; 
what  bread  you  do  eat,  let  it  be  the  bread  of  independence  ; 
pursue  your  profession  ;  make  yourself  useful  to  your  friends, 
and  a  little  formidable  to  your  enemies,  and  you  have  nothing 
to  fear." 

Diverted  from  his  design  by  arguments  like  these,  it  still 
remained  to  Mr.  Webster  to  acquaint  his  father  with  his  de 
termination,  and  satisfy  him  of  its  propriety.  He  felt  this 
Would  be  no  easy  task,  as  his  father  had  set  his  heart  so  much 
\ipon  the  office  ;  but  he  determined  to  go  home  immediately, 
and  give  him,  in  full,  the  reasons  of  his  conduct. 

It  was  mid-winter,  and  he  looked  round  for  a  country 
sleigh — for  stage-coaches,  at  that  time,  were  things  unknown 
in  the  centre  of  New  Hampshire — and  finding  one  that  had 


24  CHAPTER    I. 

come  down  to  market,  he  took  passage  therein,  and  in  two  01 
three  days  was  set  down  at  his  father's  door.  (The  same 
journey  is  made  now  in  four  hours  by  steam.)  It  was  evening 
when  he  arrived.  I  have  heard  him  tell  the  story  of  the  inter 
view.  His  father  was  sitting  before  the  fire,  and  received  him 
with  manifest  joy.  He  looked  feebler  than  he  had  ever  ap 
peared,  but  his  countenance  lighted  up  on  seeing  his  clerk 
stand  before  him  in  good  health  and  spirits.  He  lost  no  time 
in  alluding  to  the  great  appointment — said  how  spontaneously 
it  had  been  made — how  kindly  the  chief  justice  proposed  it, 
with  what  unanimity  all  assented,  &c.,  &c.  During  this 
speech,  it  can  be  well  imagined  how  embarrassed  Mr.  Web 
ster  felt,  compelled,  as  he  thought,  from  a  conviction  of  duty 
to  disappoint  his  father's  sanguine  expectations.  Neverthe 
less,  he  commanded  his  countenance  and  voice,  so  as  to  reply 
in  a  sufficiently  assured  manner.  He  spoke  gaily  about  the 
office  ;  expressed  his  great  obligation  to  their  Honors,  and 
his  intention  to  write  them  a  most  respectful  letter  ;  if  he 
could  have  consented  to  record  anybody's  judgments,  he 
should  have  been  proud  to  have  recorded  their  Honors',  &c., 
&c.  He  proceeded  in  this  strain,  till  his  father  exhibited 
signs  of  amazement,  it  having  occurred  to  him,  finally,  that 
his  son  might  all  the  while  be  serious — "  Do  you  intend  to 
decline  this  office  r"  he  said  at  length.  "  Most  certainly," 
replied  his  son  ;"I  cannot  think  of  doing  otherwise.  I  mean 
to  use  my  tongue  in  the  courts,  not  my  pen ;  to  be  an  actor, 
not  a  register  of  other  men's  actions." 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  25 

For  a  moment  Judge  Webster  seemed  angry.  He  rocked 
his  chair  slightly,  a  flash  went  over  his  eye,  softened  by  age, 
but  even  then  black  as  jet,  but  it  immediately  disappeared, 
and  his  countenance  regained  its  usual  serenity.  Parental 
love  and  partiality  could  not  after  all  but  have  been  gratifie 
with  the  son's  devotion  to  an  honorable  and  distinguished  pro 
fession,  and  seeming  confidence  of  success  in  it.  "  Well,  my 
son,"  said  Judge  Webster  finally,  "  your  mother  has  always 
said  that  you  would  come  to  something  or  nothing,  she  was 
not  sure  which.  I  think  you  are  now  about  settling  that 
doubt  for  her."  The  judge  never  afterwards  spoke  to  his  son 
on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Webster  having  thus  reconciled,  his  father  to  his  views 
returned  to  Boston.  In  March,  following,  having  been  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar,  as  before  stated,  he  went  to  Amherst,  New 
Hampshire,  where  his  father's  court  was  then  in  session  ;  from 
Amherst  he  went  home  with  his  father.  His  design  had  been 
to  settle  in  the  practice  at  Portsmouth  ;  but  unwilliug  to  leave 
his  father,  who  had  become  infirm,  and  had  no  sons  at  home, 
he  opened  an  office  in  Boscawen,  near  his  father's  residence, 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Judge  Webster  lived  but  a  year  after  his  son's  commence 
ment  of  practice ;  long  enough,  however,  to  hear  his  first  ar 
gument  in  court,  and  to  be  gratified  with  confident  predictions 
of  his  future  success.  Then,  like  Simeon  of  old,  he  gathered 
up  his  garments  and  died. 

He  died  in  April,  1806.     Exposure  to  the  hardships  of  a 

2* 


CHAPTER    I 


frontier  life,  more  severe  than  we  can  now  entertain  any  idea 
of,  the  privations  and  labors  he  suffered  ^nd  underwent  in  the 
Indian  wars,  and  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  had  broken  in 
upon  a  constitution  naturally  robust,  and  hastened  his  decease. 
He  was  of  a  manly  and  generous  character,  and  of  a  deport 
ment  and  manner  to  gain  him  great  consideration  among  all 
that  knew  him.  In  civil  and  military  life,  he  obtained  deserved 
distinction.  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  twelve 
or  fourteen  years,  he  made  good,  by  the  integrity  of  his  pur 
pose,  the  clearness  of  his  judgment,  and  the  strength  of  his 
character,  the  want  of  early  education ;  and  gained  for  his 
opinions  and  decisions  a  confidence  and  concurrence  not 
always  accorded  to  persons  professionally  more  learned.  He 
was  distinguished  also  in  his  military  career.  Entering  the 
army  a  private,  he  retired  a  major  ;  and  won  his  commission 
by  faithful  and  gallant  service,  as  well  in  the  Revolutionary, 
as  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars.  He  acted  as  major  under 
Stark,  at  Bennington,  and  contributed  no  little  to  the  fortunate 
result  of  that  day. 

In  May,  1807,  Mr.  Webster  was  admitted  as  attorney  and 
counsellor  of  the  Superior  Court  in  New  Hampshire,  and  in 
September  of  that  year  relinquished  his  office  in  Boscawen  to 
his  brother  Ezckiel,  who  had  then  obtained  admission  to  the 
bar,  and  moved  to  Portsmouth,  according  to  his  original  inten 
tion. 

He  married  in  June,  1808,  Grace  Fletcher,  the  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher,  of  Hopkinton,  N.  H.  By  her  he 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  27 

had  four  children  ;  Grace,  Fletcher,  Julia  and  Edward ;  but 
one  of  whom,  Fletcher,  survives.  Edward  died  with  the 
army  in  Mexico,  1847,  Major  of  the  Massachusetts  Regiment 
of  Yolunteers.  He  was  one  of  the  most  gentlemanly,  amia 
ble,  and  honorable  young  men  of  the  age. 

Mr.  Webster  lived  in  Portsmouth  nine  years,  wanting  one 
month.  The  counsel  most  eminent  at  the  bar  of  the  county 
at  that  time,  were  Jeremiah  Mason,  Edward  St.  Loe  Liver- 
more,  Jeremiah  Smith,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  and 
Governor  of  the  State  ;  William  King  Atkinson,  Attorney- 
G-eneral  of  the  State  ;  George  Sullivan,  also  Attorney-General ; 
Samuel  Dexter  and  Joseph  Story,  of  Massachusetts,  all  law 
yers  of  much  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  some  of  surpass 
ing  excellence.  No  bar,  at  that  time,  probably,  in  the  coun 
try,  presented  such  an  array  of  various  talents.  Mr.  Webster's 
estimate  of  Judge  Story  and  Mr.  Mason,  expressed  in  public, 
will  form  not  the  least  important  nor  least  enduring  monument 
to  their  fame.  It  will  out  last  the  sculptured  marble.  For 
Mr.  Mason,  his  professional  rival  sometimes,  his  friend  always, 
he  entertained  a  warm  regard  as  well  as  respect.  Mr.  Mason 
was  of  infinite  advantage  to  him,  Mr.  Webster  has  said,  in 
Portsmouth,  not  only  by  his  unvarying  friendship,  but  by  the 
many  good  lessons  he  taught  him,  and  the  good  example  he 
set  him  in  the  commencement  of  his  career.  "  If  there  be 
in  the  country  a  stronger  intellect,"  Mr.  Webster  once  said, 
"  if  there  be  a  mind  of  more  native  resources,  if  there  be  a 
vision  that  sees  quicker  cr  sees  deeper  into  whatever  is  intri- 


28  CHAPTER    I. 

cate,  or  whatever  is  profound,  I  must  confess  I  have  not 
known  it." 

Mr.  Webster's  practice,  while  he  lived  in  Portsmouth,  was 
very  much  a  circuit  practice.  He  followed  the  Superior 
Court  in  most  of  the  counties  of  the  State,  and  was  retained 
in  nearly  all  the  important  causes.  It  is  a  fact  somewhat  sin 
gular  of  his  professional  life,  that  with  the  exception  of  in 
stances  in  which  he  has  been  associated  with  the  attorney- 
general  of  the  United  States  for  the  time  being,  he  has  hardly 
appeared  ten  times  as  junior  counsel.  Once  or  twice  with 
Mr.  Mason,  once  or  twice  with  Mr.  Prescott,  and  with  Mr. 
Hopkinson,  are  the  only  exceptions  within  recollection. 

Mr.  Webster's  practice  in  New  Hampshire  was  never  lucra 
tive.  Clients  then  and  there  were  not  rich,  and  fees,  conse 
quently,  were  not  large  ;  nor  were  persons  so  litigious  as  in 
places  less  civilized  by  intelligence.  Though  his  time  was 
exclusively  devoted  to  his  profession,  his  practice  never  gave 
him  more  than  a  livelihood, 

He  never  held  office,  popular  or  other,  in  the  government 
of  New  Hampshire.  He  occasionally  took  part  in  political 
affairs,  and  was  then  not  unfelt  in  his  action.  His  vote  was 
always  given,  his  voice  and  pen  sometimes  exercised,  in  favor 
of  the  party  whose  principles  he  espoused.  Even  in  that 
eirly  period  of  his  life,  however,  when  something  perhaps, 
could  be  pardoned  to  the  vehemence  of  youth,  he  used  no 
acrimonious  language  of  lus  political  opponent?,  nor  suggested 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  29 

or  participated   in  any  act   indicative  of  personal   animosity 
towards  them. 

At  thirty  years  of  age,  he  had  become  well  known  and  re 
spected  throughout  the  State  ;  so  much  so,  that  he  was  elect 
ed  a  Representative  of  the  State  in  Congress,  after  an  animat 
ed  contest,  in  November,  1812,  and  took  his  seat  at  the  extra 
session  in  May,  1813. 


What  has  been  written  thus  far,  relates  rather  to  the  pri 
vate  life  of  Mr.  Webster ;  what  follows  concerns,  mostly,  his 
public ;  as  gathered  from  the  records  and  contemporaneous 
testimony. 

But  the  ingenuous  youth  of  the  country  should  understand, 
that  Mr.  Webster,  great  as  he  is,  has  not  become  so,  without 
great  study.  Greatness  has  not  been  thrust  upon  him.  He 
has  studied  books,  he  has  studied  mankind,  he  has  studied 
himself,  (which  is  the  very  fountain  of  all  true  wisdom,) 
deeply  and  conscientiously,  from  his  earliest  youth.  There 
has  been  no  unappropriated  time  with  him  ;  none  trifled  away 
Even  in  the  hours  of  relaxation,  he  has  thought  of,  and  me 
thodized  the  gleanings  of  the  Past,  or  prepared  results  for 
the  Future. 

He  laid  early  and  solid  the  foundation  of  his  fame.  While 
the  rnind  was  eager  and  facile  to  receive  earnest  impressions, 
he  sought  after  everything  in  the  way  of  learning,  that  was 
sincere,  elevated,  and  ennobling,  to  fill  and  satisfy  it.  He  pur 
sued  no  study  he  did  not  comprehend ;  undertook  no  task  tc 


30  CHAPTER    I. 

which  he  did  not  devote  his  whole  mind.     Whatever  he  strove 
after,  he  acquired,  and  whatever  he  acquired,  he  retained. 

It  was  this  early  and  constant  seeking  after  knowledge — 
this  desire  unsatisfied  with  acquisition — this  all-embracing 
pursuit,  that  determined  his  intellectual  character,  and  pre 
pared  him  for  any  encounter  with  the  world.  What  he  has 
said  of  Adams  and  Jefferson  might  be  applied  with  equal 
truth  to  himself.  "If  we  could  now  ascertain  all  the  causes 
which  gave  them  eminence  and  distinction,  in  the  midst  of 
the  great  men  with  whom  they  acted,  we  should  find  not 
among  the  least,  their  early  acquisition  in  literature,  the  re 
sources  which  it  furnished,  the  promptitude  and  facility  which 
it  communicated,  and  the  wide  field  it  opened,  for  analogy  and 
illustration ;  giving  them,  thus,  on  every  sulject,  a  larger 
view,  and  a  broader  range,  as  well  for  discus- ion,  as  for  the 
government  of  their  own  conduct." 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  hall  of  debate  is  certainly  not  so  dangerous  as  the 
battle-field.  Life  is  not  involved  in  its  struggles ;  but  still 
there  can  be  perilled  in  it,  no  less,  all  that  renders  life  de 
sirable  ; — character,  position,  influence.  These  all  may  be 
staked  upon  the  decision  of  the  moment : 

"Concurritur: 

r  •' Jlut  cita  mors,  aut  victoria  lata." 

Moral  and  physical  courage  too  are  equally  required  in  the  one 
as  in  the  other ;  there  are  many,  indeed,  who  would  prefer  to 
lead  a  storming  party  or  a  forlorn  hope,  to  undergoing  the 
hazards  of  a  forensic  contest. 

To  Mr.  Webster,  a  deliberative  assembly  was  a  scene  o. 
action  entirely  new.  He  had  undergone,  before  his  entrance 
into  Congress,  no  preliminary  training.  The  common  schools 
of  our  orators — State  Legislatures — he  knew  nothing  of :  all 
that  he  now  saw  resembled  nothing  he  had  ever  seen.  Yet  he 
was  neither  perplexed,  nor  discouraged  ;  he  had  subdued  to  a 
great  degree  his  early  diffidence,  and  became  self-reliant.  It 
may  be  said  of  him  as  it  has  been  said  of  the  younger  Pitt ; 


32  CHAPTER    II. 

the  same  composure,  earnestness,  and  imposing  manner,  thfc 
same  nervous,  sinewy,  accurate  diction,  the  same  variety, 
nicety  and  fullness  of  knowledge  distinguished  him  on  his 
first  rising  as  in  his  later  senatorial  career. 

Bat  at  Eton  or  Oxford,  the  future  orators  and  statesmen 
of  England  are  as  regularly  taught  and  drilled  for  the  stations 
they  are  intended  to  fill,  as  pupils  of  the  Polytechnic  school. 
They  have  their  mimic  Parliament,  where  they  acquire  all  the 
formula,  the  routine,  and  official  etiquette — the  jus  et  norma 
loquendi — which  aid  so  much  the  success  of  their  earliest 
efforts  in  the  House.  And  when  they  enter  Parliament,  they 
but  exchange  the  scene  of  their  contests  and  their  triumphs. 

Mr.  Webster  was  not  like  them  "  swaddled  and  rocked  and 
dandled"  into  a  Legislator.  All  he  acquired  was  by  dint  of 
hard,  unassisted  labor.  He  had  no  models  upon  which  to 
fashion  himself.  He  had  no  example  to  encourage  or  warn. 
No  one  can  read  a  speech  of  his,  and  not  perceive  the  frequent 
and  abundant  evidence  of  obstacles  encountered  and  over 
come  :  of  independent,  manly  thought ;  of  early  and  close  self- 
discipline  ;  earnest  introspection  ;  great  moral  and  intellectual 
hardihood. 

He  no  sooner  entered  Congress  than  he  obtained  a  command 
ing  influence  there  ;  without  hereditary  name,  official  influence, 
or  party  ascendancy.  His  success  was  the  result  of  a  mind 
remarkably  constituted  for  public  effort ;  a  mind  that  weighed 
and  matured;  that  rejected  nothing  from  prejudice,  and  em 
braced  nothing  without  examination ;  that  was  full,  sincere?, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  33 

logical,  profound.  It  was,  too,  the  result  of  an  active,  perti 
nacious  diligence  that  has  controlled  his  whole  life. 

He  came  into  Congress  in  a  period  of  great  excitement 
The  insolent  indifference  of  Great  Britain  to  our  maritime 
rights  had  provoked  the  country  into  a  declaration  of  war,  and 
hostilities  were  at  this  time  at  their  height.  It  is  true  the 
measures  of  doubtful  policy,  which  preceded  the  war,  and  its 
early  injudicious  management,  had  weakened  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  in  various  sections  of  the  country  the  conviction  of 
its  justice  or  necessity.  But  in  Congress,  however,  all  the 
belligerent  propositions  of  the  administration  were  supported 
by  decisive  majorities.  HENRY  CLAY,  who  had  urged  the 
declaration  of  war  with  almost  as  much  vehemence  and  perti 
nacity,  as  Cato  the  destruction  of  Carthage,  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  Lower  House,  by  a  triumphant  vote,  receiving 
eighty-nine  out  of  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  ballots ;  and 
lent  his  position  and  great  personal  influence,  in  their  whole 
extent,  to  the  support  of  the  policy  of  the  administration. 

Mr.  Webster  was  placed  on  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Af 
fairs.  Though  his  reputation  hitherto  had  been  almost  wholly 
provincial,  whether  from  his  personal  deportment  and  appear 
ance,  some  foreshadowings  of  his  ability,  or  from  some  one  o. 
the  many  inexplicable  causes  that  give  to  the  judgment  of  man 
the  certainty  of  intuition,  this  position  was  at  once  conceded 
to  him.  He  was  placed  upon  the  most  important  Committee 
of  the  House,  though  one  of  the  youngest  (if  not  the  youngest) 
Member  in  it,  and  wholly  new  to  public  affairs. 


34  CHAPTER    II. 

Besides  the  distinguished  name  of  Clay,  this  Congress 
boasted  others  of  a  national  character.  CALHOUN,  FORSYTH, 
GRUNDY,  NATHANIEL  MACON,  WM.  GASTON,  of  N.  C., — no 
less  a  jurist  than  a  statesman, — TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  of 
Mass.,  JOHN  W.  TAYLOR,  of  New  York,  C.  J.  INGERSOLL, 
and  WM.  R.  KING,  then  representing  North  Carolina,  were  all 
members  of  the  House :  most  of  them  just  starting,  with 
generous  rivalry,  upon  their  race  of  distinction. 

It  was  on  Thursday,  June  10th,  1813,  that  Mr.  Webster 
made  his  maiden  speech  to  the  House.  It  was  upon  certain 
resolutions  which  he  introduced  in  relation  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees,  the  first  of  which  was  in  these 
words  :  "  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States 
be  requested  to  inform  this  House,  unless  the  public  interest 
should  in  his  opinion  forbid  such  communication,  when  and  by 
whom,  and  in  what  manner,  the  first  intelligence  was  given  to 
this  Government  of  the  decree  of  the  Government  of  France, 
bearing  date  the  28th  of  April,  1811,  and  purporting  to  be  a 
definitive  repeal  of  the  Decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan." 

These  resolutions  were  not  introduced  to  embarrass  the 
Administration,  but  to  elicit  information  that  might  throw 
some  light  upon  the  proximate  causes  of  the  war,  and  enable 
members  to  best  judge  the  most  proper  manner  of  conducting 
it. 

Mr.  Webster,  in  his  speech  on  these  resolutions  displayed  a 
cautious  regard  for  facts,  a  philosophical  moderation  of  tone, 
a  fulness  of  knowledge,  and  an  amplitude  of  historical  illustra 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  35 

tion  which  astonished  the  House.  There  was  no  exaggeration 
of  statement  or  argument,  no  sophistry  nor  uncalled-for  rhetoric 
in  his  speech  ;  the  oldest  Parliamentarian  could  not  have  ex 
hibited  more  propriety  and  decency  of  manner  or  language, 
nor  the  most  able,  a  logic  more  perspicacious  or  more  con 
vincing.  There  was  a  harmony  between  his  thought  and  its 
expression,  that  won  attention  and  compelled  admiration. 
The  opening  of  his  speech  was  simple,  unaffected,  without  pre 
tension,  gradually  gaining  the  confidence  of  his  audience  by  its 
transparent  sincerity  and  freedom  from  aught  resembling  dis 
play.  As  the  orator  continued  and  grew  animated,  his  words 
became  more  fluent,  and  his  language  more  nervous  ;  a  crowd 
of  thoughts  seemed  rushing  upon  him,  all  eager  for  utterance. 
He  held  them,  however,  under  the  command  of  his  mind,  as 
greyhounds  with  a  leash,  till  he  neared  the  close  of  his  speech, 
when,  warmed  by  the  previous  restraint,  he  poured  them  all 
forth,  one  after  another,  in  glowing  language. 

The  speech  took  the  House  by  surprise,  not  so  much  from 
its  eloquence  as  from  the  vast  amount  of  historical  knowledge 
and  illustrative  ability  displayed  in  it.  How  a  person,  un 
trained  to  forensic  contests  and  unused  to  public  affairs,  could 
exhibit  so  much  Parliamentary  tact,  such  nice  appreciation  of 
the  difficulties  of  a  difficult  question,  and  such  quiet  facility  in 
surmounting  them,  puzzled  the  mind.  The  age  and  inexpe 
rience  of  the  speaker  had  prepared  the  House  foi  no  such  dis 
play,  and  astonishment  for  a  time  subdued  the  expression  of 
its  admiration. 


36  CHAPTER   II. 

"  No  member  before,"  says  a  person  then  in  the  House ; 
"  ever  rivetted  the  attention  of  the  House  so  closely,  in  his 
first  speech.  Members  left  their  seats  where  they  could  not 
see  the  speaker,  face  to  face,  and  sat  down,  or  stood  on  the 
floor,  fronting  him.  All  listened  attentively  and  silently,  during 
the  whole  speech  ;  and  when  it  was  over,  many  went  up  and 
warmly  congratulated  the  orator ;  among  whom,  were  some, 
not  the  most  niggard  of  their  compliments,  who  most  dissent 
ed  from  the  views  he  had  expressed." 

Chief  Justice  Marshall,  writing  to  a  friend  sometime  after 
this  speech,  says :  "  at  the  time  when  this  speech  was  delivered, 
I  did  not  know  Mr.  Webster,  but  I  was  so  much  struck  with 
jt,  that  I  did  not  hesitate  then  to  state,  that  Mr.  Webster  was 
3  very  able  man,  and  would  become  one  of  the  very  first 
statesmen  in  America,  and  perhaps  the  very  first." 

The  speech  immediately  raised  its  author  to  the  first  con 
sideration  in  the  House,,  and  gained  him  great  reputation 
throughout  the  country.  The  object  it  proposed  was  merely 
information  respecting  the  time  and  manner  in  which  the  re 
vocation  of  the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  reached  the  Presi 
dent.  Certain  opponents,  however,  of  the  administration  used 
the  introduction  of  the  resolutions  as  an  opportunity  for  as 
sault  upon  it,  particularly  as  related  to  its  conduct  of  the  war. 
The  National  Intelligencer, — the  organ  of  the  dominant  party, 
— says  in  the  paper  of  June  18th :  "  This  debate  has  now 
assumed  such  a  character,  that,  although  there  is  but  little 
opposition  to  Mr.  Webster's  motion,  it  has  become  necessary 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  37 

for  the  advocates  of  the  present  war,  for  the  friends  of  the  ad 
ministration,  the  defenders  of  their  country's  reputation,  to 
repel  the  violence  of  their  opponents,  and  in  turn  pursue  to 
the  inmost  recesses  of  their  coverts,  and  drag  them  forth  into 
the  light  of  day." 

But  Mr.  Webster  took  no  part  in  the  debate  after  it  had 
assumed  a  factious  character ;  his  object  being,  not  to  foment 
party  quarrels,  but  to  carry  out  a  national  purpose. 

His  resolutions  were  carried  by  a  large  majority ;  the  first, 
by  a  vote  of  137  to  26  ;  and  President  Madison,  in  obedience 
to  the  call  of  the  House,  communicated  full  and  satisfactory 
information  upon  the  subject. 

Mr.  Webster  was  not  in  Congress  when  the  war  with  Great 
Britain  was  commenced,  nor  in  public  life.  As  a  private 
citizen,  he  entertained  opinions  adverse  to  the  policy  of  the 
restrictive  system  and  the  embargo,  considering  them  more  in 
jurious  in  their  operation  to  our  own  country  than  to  England ; 
and  in  this  opinion,  Mr.  Calhoun  and  other  prominent  mem 
bers  of  the  Republican  party  concurred. 

When  lie  entered  Congress,  war  was  raging.  He  did  not 
always  approve  either  in  his  speeches  or  by  his  votes  the  man 
ner  in  which  it  was  carried  on ;  but  he  never  refused  his  vote 
to  any  measure  for  defending  the  country,  repelling  invasion, 
or  giving  greater  force  and  vitality  to  the  laws.  He  was  not 
unmindful  that  his  father  had  fought  the  same  enemy  in  our 
revolutionary  struggle  ;  nor  would  he  himself  have  hesitated 
V>  take  the  field,  had  the  country  needed  his  arm.  Ports- 


38  CHAPTER    II 

mouth — the  town  of  his  residence — being  threatened  with  at 
tack  from  a  fleet  of  the  enemy,  hovering  over  the  coast,  he 
was  placed,  on  the  nomination  of  JOHN  LANGDON,  a  man  of 
odorous  patriotism,  at  the  head  of  the  committee  raised  for  its 
defence. 

The  best  way  of  annoying  England,  and  crippling  its  ener 
gies  was,  he  thought,  by  attacking  her  on  the  sea.  Before  he 
was  elected  to  Congress,  and  before  war,  though  threatening, 
had  been  declared,  he  put  forth  some  vigorous  articles  in  favor 
of  the  navy  ;  and  he  had  no  sooner  entered  the  House,  than 
he  raised  his  voice  to  urge  a  greater  attention  to  the  character 
and  equipment  of  this  gallant  service.  ii  We  were  at  war," 
he  said  afterwards,  "  with  the  greatest  maritime  power  on 
earth.  England  had  gained  an  ascendancy  on  the  seas  over 
the  whole  combined  force  of  Europe.  She  had  been  at  war 
twenty  years.  She  had  tried  her  fortunes  on  the  Continent, 
but  generally  with  no  success.  At  one  time,  the  whole  Con 
tinent  had  been  closed  against  her.  A  long  line  of  armed  ex 
terior,  an  unbroken  hostile  array,  frowned  upon  her  from  the 
Gulf  of  Archangel,  round  the  promontory  of  Spain  and  Por 
tugal,  to  the  foot  of  the  boot  of  Italy.  There  was  not  a  port 
which  an  English  ship  could  enter.  Everywhere  on  the  land 
the  genius  of  her  great  enemy  had  triumphed.  He  had  de 
feated  armies,  crushed  coalitions,  and  overturned  thrones  ;  but 
like  the  fabled  giant,  he  was  unconquerable  only  when  he 
touched  the  land.  On  the  ocean  he  was  powerless.  That 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  39 

field  of  fame  was  his  adversary's,  and  her   meteor   flag   was 
streaming  in  triumph  all  over  it. 

"  To  her  maritime  ascendancy  England  owed  everything, 
and  we  were  at  war  with  her.     One  of  the  most  charming  of 
er  poets  has  said  of  her,  that 

'  Her  march  is  o'er  the  mountain  wave, 
Her  home  is  on  the  deep.' 

"  Now  since  we  were  at  war  with  her,  I  was  for  intercept 
ing  this  march  ;  I  was  for  calling  upon  her,  and  paying  our 
respects  to  her  at  home ;  I  was  for  giving  her  to  know  that 
we,  too,  had  a  right  of  way  over  the  seas,  and  that  our 
marine  officers  and  our  sailors  were  not  entire  strangers  on  the 
bosom  of  the  deep  ;  I  was  for  doing  something  more  with  our 
navy  than  to  keep  it  on  our  shores  for  the  protection  of  our 
own  coasts  and  our  own  harbors ;  I  was  for  giving  play  to  itL 
gallant  and  burning  spirit ;  for  allowing  it  to  go  forth  upon  the 
seas,  and  encounter,  on  an  open  and  equal  field,  whatever  the 
proudest  and  the  bravest  of  the  enemy  could  bring  against  it 
I  knew  the  character  of  its  officers,  and  the  spirit  of  its  sea 
men  ;  and  I  knew  that,  in  their  hands,  though  the  flag  of  the 
country  might  go  down  to  the  bottom,  while  they  went  with  it, 
yet  that  it  could  never  be  dishonored  or  disgraced." 

The  speech  he  delivered  in  favor  of  putting  the  navy  in 
proper  condition,  and  sending  it  forth  to  gain  laurels  on  a  free, 
open  field,  was  one  of  the  best  he  made  during  the  session. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  war,  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  some  reply  to  Mr  Webster, 


40  CHAPTER    II. 

made  a  general  allusion  to  his  votes  and  speeches  during  the 
war,  and  insinuated  that  they  might  not  all  bear  scrutiny. 
Mr.  Webster,  after  indignantly  repelling  the  charge,  and  prov 
ing  its  groundlessness,  concluded  in  these  words :  "As  I  do 
not  mean  to  recur  to  this  subject  often,  or  ever,  unless  indis 
pensably  necessary,  I  repeat  the  demand  for  any  charge,  any 
accusation,  any  allegation  whatever,  that  throws  me  behind  the 
honorable  gentleman,  or  behind  any  other  man,  in  honor,  in 
fidelity,  in  devoted  love  to  that  country  in  which  I  was  born, 
which  has  honored  me,  and  which  I  serve.  I  who  seldom  deal 
in  defiance,  now,  here,  in  my  place,  boldly  defy  the  honorable 
member  to  put  his  insinuation  in  the  form  of  a  charge,  and  to 
support  that  charge  by  any  proof  whatever." 

The  challenge  thus  thrown  out,  Mr.  Calhoun  never  accept 
ed,  nor,  is  it  probable,  any  other  man  ever  will. 

The  principal  speeches  made  by  Mr.  Webster  during  this 

Congress,  were  upon  his  own  resolutions — upon  the  increase 

of  the  Navy — upon  the  rescinding  of  the  Embargo,  and  upon 

"  the  Previous  Question ;  all  indicative  of  various  as  well  as 

eminent  talent. 


In  January,  1814,  while  Mr.  Webster  was  in  Washington 
attending  to  his  duties  as  a  member  of  Congress,  a  great  fire 
took  place  in  Portsmouth — in  which  he  lost  house,  furniture 
books,  everything — a  loss  to  him,  at  that  time  of  no  incon 
siderable  magnitude.* 

*  This  was  the   "  Great   Fire"    of  Portsmouth.     I  have  heard  Mr 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  41 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1814,  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS, 
then  minister  to  Russia,  JAMES  A.  BAYARD,  of  Delaware, 
JONATHAN  RUSSELL,  of  R.  I.,  and  HENRY  CLAY,  were  ap 
pointed  Commissioners  to  Gottenburg,  to  meet  the  Commis 
sioners  of  Great  Britain  under  an  overture  proposed  by  the 
government  of  that  country  and  accepted  by  ours,  for  concert 
ing  the  conditions  of  peace  between  the  two  countries. 

Webster  tell  an  anecdote  relating  to  the  burning  of  his  house,  which  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  repeat. 

The  house  was  the  first  to  catch  on  fire.  It  took  fire  on  the  roof — as 
was  supposed,  from  a  neighboring  stable.  No  one  was  at  home  but  Mrs. 
Webster,  her  daughter  Grace,  and  the  servants — Fletcher  being  out  at 
nurse.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Parry — an  acquaintance — rushed  into  the 
house,  and  seizing  Mrs.  Webster  by  the  hands  exclaimed :  "  Mrs.  Web 
ster,  don't  be  agitated — don't  be  alarmed,  Mrs.  Webster."  "  I  am  not 
alarmed.  Mr.  Parry.  Why  should  I  be  ?  What's  the  matter  ?"  "  Don't 
be  alarmed,  Mrs.  Webster — for  Heaven's  sake,  don't  be  alarmed,"  cried 
he — "  there  is  no  danger."  "  Danger  of  what  ?"  said  Mrs.  Webster — 
''  What  is  the  matter,  Mr.  Parry  ?"  "  My  dear  madam  don't  be  alarmed, 
but  your  house  is  all  on  fire,  and  the  roof  must  befalling  in  by  this  time." 

Mrs.  Webster,  with  great  presence  of  mind,  gave  directions  for  saving 
whatever  of  the  furniture,  &c.,  was  easy  of  access  and  removal ;  some 
of  the  neighbors  hastening  in  to  aid  her.  But  they,  however,  were 
obliged  to  leave  her  to  take  care  of  their  own  houses,  which  were  soon 
likewise  in  a  blaze — many  houses,  and  property  to  a  large  amount,  were 
destroyed. 

Mr.  Webster  had  been  diverted  from  his  purpose  of  insuring  house 
and  furniture,  and  suffered  in  consequence  a  total  loss,  with  the  excep- 
tioe  of  the  few  articles  preserved  by  his  wife,  cf  both — in  all,  perhapSj 
$7,000. 

3 


42  CHAPTER    II. 

The  acceptance  of  this  mission  by  Mr.  Clay  necessarily  va 
cated  the  Speakership.  On  January  19th,  he  resigned  the 
office,  with  these  remarks  : 

"  Gentlemen, — I  have  attended  you  to-day,  to  announce 
my  resignation  of  the  distinguished  station  in  this  House,  with 
which  I  have  been  honored  by  your  kindness.  In  taking  leave 
of  you,  gentlemen,  I  shall  be  excused  for  embracing  this  last 
occasion,  to  express  to  you  personally  my  thanks  for  the  frank 
and  liberal  support,  the  chair  has  experienced  at  your  hands. 
Wherever  I  may  go,  in  whatever  situation  I  may  be  placed,  I 
can  never  cease  to  cherish,  with  the  fondest  remembrance, 
the  sentiments  of  esteem  and  respect  with  which  you  have  in 
spired  inc." 

Certainly,  no  one  ever  presided  over  any  deliberative  body, 
in  this  country,  with  more  personal  popularity  and  influence 
than  Mr.  Clay.  He  governed  the  House  with  more  absolute 
ness  than  any  Speaker  that  preceded  or  followed  him.  It  was 
a  power  founded  upon  character  and  manners.  Fearless, 
energetic,  decided,  he  swayed  the  timid  by  superior  will,  and 
governed  the  bold,  through  sympathy.  A  chivalric  bearing, 
easy  address,  and  a  warm  manner  that  seemed  to  imply  a 
warm  heart,  drew  around  him  crowds  of  admirers.  He  culti 
vated — what  our  great  men  too  much  neglect — the  philosophy 
of  manners.  None  knew  better  than  he  the  wondrous  power 
in  seeming  trifles  ;  how  much  a  word,  a  tone,  a  look  can  ac 
complish  ;  what  direction  give  to  the  whole  character  of 
opinion  and  conduct.  There  seemed  nothing  constrained  in 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  4? 

his  courtesy,  nothing  simulated ;  all  his  manner  was  simple 
unaffected,  ardent ;  if  it  were  not  genuine,  he  had  early  arrived 
at  the  perfection  of  art,  and  concealed  the  art. 

As  an  orator,  he  was  unequalled ;  even  in  an  assembly  thai 
boasted  of  Cheves,  of  Lowndes,  of  Forsyth,  and  others  no  lesf 
distinguished.  His  voice  was  sonorous  and  musical,  falling 
with  proper  cadence  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  tones  ;  ai 
times,  when  in  narrative  or  description,  modulated,  smooth 
and  pleasing,  like  sounds  of  running  water ;  but  when  raised 
to  animate  and  cheer,  it  was  as  clear  and  spirit-stirring  as  the 
notes  of  a  clarion,  the  House  all  the  while  ringing  with  its 
melody. 

Oftentimes  he  left  his  chair  to  address  the  House.  A  call 
of  the  House  would  not  have  brought  members  in  more  eagerly. 
Few,  indeed,  could  have  indulged  in  such  frequency  of  speech, 
and  retained  personal  ascendency.  But  his  influence  seemed 
to  increase  in  strength,  the  oftener  it  was  exerted.  He  had  a 
wonderful  tact,  by  which  he  judged,  as  by  intuition,  when  the 
subject,  or  the  patience  of  his  audience,  threatened  to  be  ex 
hausted  ;  and  took  care  always  to  leave  the  curiosity  of  his 
hearers  unsatisfied. 

"  I  was  a  member  of  the  House  during  the  war,"  writes 
a  gentleman  to  the  editor  of  these  papers,  u  and  was  pre 
sent  when  Mr.  Clay  made  his  farewell  speech  on  resigning  the 
Speakership.  It  was  an  impressive  occasion.  Not  only  were 
all  the  seats  of  members  occupied,  but  many  senators  attend 
ed,  and  a  large  miscellaneous  crowd.  The  war  which  he  had 


44  CHAPTER    II. 

been  most  active  in  hastening,  and  most  energetic  in  prose 
euting,  he  was  now  commissioned  with  others  to  close.     He 
was  the  youngest  of  the  Commissioners,  but  sagacious  far  be 
yond  his  years.    The  hopes  of  the  country  tired  of  a  protract 
ed  struggle,  grew  brighter  from  his  appointment. 

"  Undoubtedly,  at  this  time,  even  in  his  youthful  age,  he  had 
no  rival  in  popularity.  His  name  was  everywhere  familiar  as 
"  household  words."  His  own  bearing  evinced  a  conscious 
ness  of  his  favor  in  the  country.  I  was  struck  with  his  ap 
pearance  on  this  occasion.  There  was  a  fire  in  his  eye,  an 
elation  in  his  countenance,  a  buoyancy  in  his  whole  action, 
that  seemed  the  self-consciousness  of  coming  greatness.  Hope 
brightened,  and  joy  elevated  his  crest.  As  full  of  confidence, 
gallant  bearing,  and  gratified  look,  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
Speaker's  chair,  his  towering  height  even  more  conspicuous 
than  usual,  I  could  not  but  call  to  mind  Yernon's  descrip 
tion  of  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  in  Shakspeare  : 

"  I  saw  young  Harry,  with  his  beaver  on, 
His  cuisses  on  his  thigh,  gallantly  armed, 
Rise  from  the  ground,  like  feather'd  Mercury, 
And  vaulted  with  such  ease  into  his  seat, 
As  if  an  angel  dropp'd  down  from  the  clouds, 
To  turn  and  wind  a  fiery  Pegasus, 
And.  witch  the  world  with  noble  horsemanship. 

'c  Age  at  this  time  had  not  withered,  nor  custom  staled  the 
infinite  variety  of  his  genius.  The  defects  of  his  character 
had  not  been  developed ;  prosperity  had  not  sunned  them  ; 


DANIEL    WEBSTEJ  45 

and  they  lie  unsprouted  in  his  heart ;  nor  had  he  committed 
any  of  the  blunders  of  his  later  life,  which,  in  a  political  view, 
have  been  pronounced  worse  than  crimes. 

"  After  he  had  resigned  the  chair,  in  a  neat  and  appropri 
ate  speech,  he  came  down  to  the  floor ;  and  members  sur 
rounded  him,  to  express  their  great  grief  at  his  withdrawal, — 
mingled,  however,  with  congratulations  upon  his  appointment, 
and  with  the  expression  of  sanguine  anticipations  of  the  sue- 
cess  of  his  mission." 

Mr  Clay  having  resigned  his  seat,  with  the  remarks  already 
quoted,  Mr.  Findley,  of  Pennsylvania,  moved  the  following 
resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  House  be  presented  to 
Henry  Clay,  in  testimony  of  their  approbation  of  his  conduct, 
in  the  arduous  and  important  duties  assigned  to  him  as  Speaker 
of  the  House." 

This  resolution  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  144  to  9.  "  The 
minority  on  this  occasion,"  says  the  National  Intelligencer, 
"  was  composed  of  those  whose  approbation,  we  may  venture 
to  say,  Henry  Clay  never  courted,  if  he  desired  it." 

On  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Clay,  Langdon  Cheves,  of  South 
Carolina,  was  elected  Speaker,  and  performed  the  duties  of  the 
office  with  great  ability. 

Much  intellectual  sparring  took  place  this  session  between 
Calhoun,  Lowndcs,  Forsyth  and  Cheves,  on  one  side,  and 
Webster,  Pickering  and  Oakley  on  the  other.  The  almost 
life-long  contest  between  Calhoun  and  Webster  had  its  origin 

\ .  fau^  C^^ 

jj&*^  A 


46  CHAPTER    II. 

then.  They  have  differed  on  measures  and  principles,  "but 
chiefly  upon  the  construction  of  the  Constitution,  at  least  in 
later  years.  Earlier  in  life,  Mr.  Calhoun  contended  with  as 
much  force  and  eloquence  for  a  liberal  construction  of  this  in 
strument,  as,  later,  for  a  narrow  one. 

But  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Webster  never  infused  into  their 
political  controversies  the  bitterness  of  personal  feeling.  Each 
was  too  great  to  feel  envious  of  the  other's  ability,  too  mag 
nanimous  to  withhold  admiration  of  the  other's  extraordinary 
endowments.  Never,  during  their  whole  Parliamentary  career, 
did  cither  of  these  distinguished  gentlemen,  on  any  occasion, 
impugn  the  other's  motives,  or  address  him  in  words  of  unkind- 
ness.  They  respected  each  other,  and  they  respected  them 
selves. 

The  eminence  Mr.  Webster  rose  to,  even  in  this  his  first 
parliamentary  term,  was  generally  acknowledged  even  by  his 
political  opponents.  Mr.  Lowndes,  who  was  one  of  the  very 
few  who  could  have  disputed  his  rank,  said  of  him  :  "  The 
North  had  not  his  equal,  nor  the  South  his  superior." 

Mr.  Web'ster  was  re-elected  to  Congress  from  New  Hamp 
shire,  in  August,  1814,  after  a  warm  political  canvass. 

Early  in  January,  1815,  Mr.  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
troduced  into  the  House  a  bill  for  the  charter  of  an  United 
States  Bank.  This  measure  Mr.  Welster  opposed  in  a  speech 
of  great  force,  displaying  an  amount  0f  knowledge  of  the  his 
tory  and  philosophy  of  finance,  which  astonished  even  those 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  4 

who  thought  most  highly  of  his  abilities.  He  denounced  it  aa 
a  mere  paper  bank — a  mere  machine  for  fabricating  irredeem 
able  paper — a  plan  for  using  the  sanction  of  the  Government 
to  defraud  the  people.*  Mr.  Calhoun  also  opposed  it,  and  Mr 

*  "  What  sort  of  an  institution,  Mr.  Speaker,"  said  he,  "  is  this  ?  I 
looks  less  like  a  bank  than  a  department  of  Government.  It  will  be 
properly  the  paper-money  department.  Its  capital  is  Government  debts 
the  amount  of  its  issues  will  depend  on  Government  necessities  5  Gov 
ernment,  in  effect,  absolves  itself  from  its  own  debts  to  the  bank,  and 
by  way  of  compensation,  absolves  the  bank  from  its  own  contracts  witl 
others.  This  is,  indeed,  a  wonderful  scheme  of  finance.  The  Govern 
ment  is  to  grow  rich,  because  it  is  to  borrow  without  the  obligation  of 
repaying,  and  is  to  borrow  of  a  bank  which  issues  paper  without  liability 
to  redeem  it.  If  this  bank,  like  other  institutions  which  dull  and  plod 
ding  sense  has  erected,  were  to  pay  its  debts,  it  must  have  some  limits  to 
its  issues  of  paper,  and,  therefore,  there  would  be  a  point  beyond  which 
it  could  not  make  loans  to  Government.  This  would  fall  short  of  the 
wishes  of  the  contrivers  of  this  system.  They  provide  for  an  unlimited 
issue  of  paper,  in  an  entire  exemption  from  payment.  They  found  their 
bank,  in  the  first  place,  on  the  discredit  of  Government,  and  then  hope 
to  enrich  Government  out  of  the  insolvency  of  their  bank.  With  them, 
poverty  itself  is  the  main  source  of  supply,  and  bankruptcy  a  mine  of  in 
exhaustible  treasure.  They  rely,  not  in  the  ability  of  the  bank,  but  in 
its  beggary ;  not  in  gold  and  silver  collected  in  its  vaults,  to  pay  its  debts 
and  fulfil  its  promises,  but  in  its  locks  and  bars,  provided  by  statute,  to 
fasten  its  doors  against  the  solicitations  and  clamors  of  unfortunate  credi 
tors.  Such  an  institution,  they  flatter  themselves,  will  not  only  be  able 
to  sustain  itself,  but  to  buoy  up  the  sinking  credit  of  the  Government.  A 
bank  which  does  not  pay,  is  to  guaranty  the  engagements  of  a  Govern- 
ment  which  does  net  pay  !  Thus  the  empty  vaults  of  the  treasu.-y  are 


48  CHAPTER    II. 

Lowndes,  in  able  speeches,  and  led  off  against  the  measure 
some  twenty  members  of  the  Republican  party.  It  was  losl, 
after  a  severe  struggle,  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  Speaker,  Mi. 
Cheves,  of  S.  C. 

It  was,  however,  reconsidered,  and  amended  in  several  im 
portant  particulars.  The  bill,  as  amended,  passed  the  Houso 
by  a  large  majority,  Mr.  Webster  voting  in  its  favor.  I, 
passed  the  Senate,  but  not  without  much  difficulty,  and  was 
sent  to  the  President,  who  returned  it  to  the  House  where  i1 
originated,  with  his  reasons  for  refusing  to  sign  it,  the  principal 
of  which  was  its  inexpediency.  An  attempt  to  pass  it — the 
veto  notwithstanding — failed  entirely. 

On  the  8th  day  of  January,  of  this  year,  was  fought  the 
ever-memorable  battle  of  New  Orleans,  the  result  of  which 
spread  joy  and  exultation  throughout  the  nation.  The  heroic 
conduct  of  Gen.  Jackson  was  the  praise  of  every  tongue  ;  no 
encomium  seemed  equal  to  his  merits.  Congress,  responding 
to  the  grateful  feeling  of  the  nation,  voted  him  thanks  and 
medals,  in  commemoration  of  his  gallant  services.*  The  vic 
tory  was  fit  copestone  to  the  war. 

to  be  filled  from  the  equally  empty  vaults  of  the  bank,  and  the  ingenious 
invention  of  a  partnership  between  insolvents  is  to  restore  and  establish 
the  credit  of  both." 

*  Henry  Clay  said,  in  his  speech  to  the  House,  in  March,  1816:  "  Whilst 
the  Mississippi  continues  to  bear  the  tributes  of  the  Iron  Mountains  and 
the  Alleghany  to  her  Delta  and  to  her  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  8th  of 
January  shall  be  remembered,  and  the  glory  of  that  day  shall  stimulate 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  49 

The  thirteenth  Congress  adjourned  or.  the  4th  of  March, 
1815,  the  date  of  its  constitutional  existence.  Mr.  "Webster 
returned  to  New  Hampshire,  and  his  professional  avocations, 
keeping  company  with  judges,  sheriffs  and  witnesses,  plaintiffs 
and  defendants.  He  began  at  this  time  to  agitate  the  question 
of  change  of  residence,  his  practice  in  New  Hampshire  ceasing 
to  afford  him  a  proper  livelihood.  His  mind  hesitated  'between 
Albany  and  Boston  ;  till,  finally,  being  unable  to  make  an  im 
mediate  election  between  the  two  places,  he  postponed,  for  a 
later  period,  the  determination  of  the  question. 

On  the  re-assembling  of  Congress  in  December,  1815,  Henry 
Clay  was  again  elected  Speaker,  no  one  of  his  party  contesting 
his  candidatecy.  He  was  welcomed  back  to  the  seat  in  which 
he  had  gained  such  eminent  distinction.  His  popularity 
in  the  country  had  nearly  reached  its  culminating  point. 
Peace  with  Great  Britain,  which  the  heart  of  the  people  longed 
for  now,  as  before  for  the  declaration  of  war,  had  been  satis 
factorily  arranged,  and  partly  through  his  agency  ;  and  the 
multitude,  ever  seeking  some  tangible  object  of  worship,  lav 
ished  upon  him  every  expression  of  grateful  feeling  and  per 
sonal  devotion.  He  was  associated  in  their  minds  with  the 
national  glory  and  national  prosperity.  All  the  Government 
had  proposed  by  waging  war  against  Great  Britain — the  free 
dom  of  our  commerce,  the  safety  of  our  seamen,  and  the  honor 
of  oui-  flag, — had  been  secured,  if  not  by  express  condition  in 

future  patriots,  and  nerve  the  arms  of  unborn  freemen  in  driving  the 
presumptuous  inrader  from  our  country's  soil." 

3* 


60  CHAPTER    II. 

the  Treaty  of  Peace,  yet  by  the  readiness  with  which  the  wai 
had  been  entered  upon,  the  earnestness  with  which  it  had  been 
carried  on,  and  its  ultimate  success.  Those,  therefore,  who 
had  been  most  warm  for  the  declaration  of  war,  and  most  ac 
tive  in  its  vigorous  prosecution,  were  now  most  endeared  to  th 
hearts  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  Calhoun  appeared  in  this  session  as  the  great  champion 
of  a  National  Bank,  a  Protective  Tariff,  and  Internal  Improve 
ments.  In  relation  to  the  Tariff,  he  said  in  his  well-considered 
speech  of  April,  1816:  u  In  regard  to  the  question  how  far 
manufactures  ought  to  be  encouraged,  it  was  the  duty  of  this 
Government,  as  a  means  of  defence,  to  encourage  domestic  in 
dustry,  more  especially  that  part  of  it  which  provides  the  ne 
cessary  materials  for  clothing  and  defence. 

"  The  question  relating  to  manufactures,  must  not  depend 
on  the  abstract  principle,  that  industry  left  to  pursue  its 
own  course,  will  find  in  its  own  interest  all  the  encouragement 
that  is  necessary.  I  lay  the  claims  of  the  manufacturer  en 
tirely  out  of  view  ;  but  on  general  principles,  without  regard 
to  their  interest,  a  certain  encouragement  should  be  extended, 
at  least  to  our  woollen  and  cotton  manufactures." 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  architect  of  the  tariff  of  1816.  But 
for  his  exertions  and  South  Carolina  votes,  it  had  never  passed. 
Even  the  minimum,  the  object  afterwards  of  so  much  reviling 
and  wrathful  rhetoric  on  the  part  of  the  South,  was  established 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  51 

by  Southern  votes ;  and  the  'principle  of  protection  advocated, 
urged,  and  secured.  >"•  r 

Mr.  "Webster  disagreed  with  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  opposed  the 
high  tariff  policy.  The  bill  that  finally  passed  was  amended, 
on  his  motion,  in  certain  important  particulars  ;  on  its  passage, 
however,  he  voted  against  it,  as  being  crude  in  its  character, 
and  certain  to  be  injurious  in  its  operation  tc  his  constituents. 
It  has  been  said  that  at  one  time  Mr.  Webster  denied  the 
constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  impose  a  tariff  for  protec 
tion.  Such  is  not  the  case.  It  is  true,  however,  that  in  a 
speech  at  Faneuil  Hall,  sometime  in  1820,  he  contended  that 
if  the  power  of  protection  be  inferred  only  from  the  revenue 
power,  the  protection  could  only  be  incidental ;  that  duties 
ought  not  be  laid  for  the  mere  object  of  protection. 

But  Mr.  Madison's  published  opinion,  after  this  period,  and 
his  declaration  that  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Consti 
tution  did  intend  to  grant  the  power  of  protection,  under  the 
commercial  clause,  were  conclusive,  in  Mr.  Webster's  judgment, 
of  the  power.  And  the  policy  of  the  tariff  having  become  the 
settled  and  established  policy  of  the  country,  he  acquiesced  in 
and  supported  it. 

In  his  speech  against  chartering  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  which  he  delive^  in  February,  '16,  Mr.  Webster 
displayed  an  amount  of  financial  knowledge,  which  surprised  the 
House  no  less  than  his  acquaintance  with  the  history  and 
policy  of  other  countries,  as  made  known  to  Congress  in  his 
speech  two  years  before.  His  mind  grasped  all  the  details,  as 


52  CHAPTER    II. 

* 

well  as  the  more  prominent  principles  of  the  financial  system, 
and  defined  them  clearly  to  his. audience.  He  introduced 
amendments  restrictive  of  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the 
bank,  which  he  carried  through  by  his  earnest  argument  of 
their  necessity  ;  among  others,  one  which  made  it  compulsory 
and  penal  on  the  bank  to  pay  its  deposits  in  specie,  as  well  as 
its  notes  and  bills ;  and  another,  limiting  the  right  of  the  in 
stitution  to  sue,  in  State  Courts  alone,  instead  of  "  all  courts 
whatsoever,"  as  provided  for  in  the  original  bill. 

He  disliked,  and  protested  against,  the  participations  of  the 
government  in  the  direction  and  management  of  the  bank, — 
contending  it  would  be  alike  injurious  to  both  parties ;  and 
urged,  with  much  vehemence  of  argument,  other  fatal  objec 
tions  to  the  bill. 

But  it  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  82  to  61.  John 
Randolph,  with  other  republicans,  less  distinguished,  voting  in 
the  negative. 

Mr.  Calhoun  too,  was  the  father  of  the  system  of  National 
Improvements.  Early  in  the  next  session  of  Congress — in 
December,  1816 — a  committee  was  raised  on  his  motion,  of 
which  he  was  appointed  chairman,  to  consider  the  propriety 
of  setting  apart  the  bonus,  which  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  paid  for  its  charter,  amounting  to  one  million  five  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars,  and  also  the  dividends  in  the  stock  of 
tne  Bank  belonging  to  the  United  States,  as  a  permanent  fund 
for  internal  improvements ;  and,  soon  after,  reported  a  bill  for 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  53 

carrying  out  the  objects  for  which  the  committee  had  been  ap 
pointed. 

In  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  this  bill,  he 
made  a  very  able,  argumentative  speech  on  the  general  policy 
of  national  improvements,  and  the  power  of  Congress  over 
the  subject. 

"  Let  us  make,"  says  he,  "  permanent  roads,  not  like  the 
Romans,  with  the  view  of  subjecting  and  ruling  provinces,  but 
for  the  more  honorable  purposes  of  defence,  and  connecting 
more  closely  the  interests  of  various  sections  of  this  great 
country. 

u  Let  us  bind  the  Republic  together,  with  a  perfect  system 
of  roads  and  canals.  Let  us  conquer  space.  It  is  thus  the 
most  distant  parts  of  the  Republic  will  be  brought  within  a 
few  days  travel  of  the  centre  ;  it  is  thus  that  a  citizen  of  the 
West  will  read,  the  news  of  Boston  still  moist  from  the  press." 

In  truth,  no  one  member  of  this  celebrated  fourteenth  Con 
gress,  acquired  more  national  reputation  than  Mr.  Calhoun. 
His  early  parliamentary  career  gave  promise  of  permanent 
utility  to  the  whole  country.  The  liberality  of  his  views,  the 
earnestness  and  ability  with  which  they  were  expressed,  and  the 
sympathy  and  co-operation  with  which  they  were  met,  gave 
assurance  to  the  country  of  a  prosperous  Future. 

Men  watched  his  star  rising  in  the  clear  unclouded  sky,  and 
rejoiced,  for  they  thought  to  see  it  bring  in  its  train  national 
health,  happiness  and  greatness.  A  Southerner  by  birth,  he 
expressed  and  advocated  no  local  views  ;  but,  with  a  mind  as 


54  CHAPTER    II. 

vast  as  its  interests,  embraced  in  his  language  and  his  action, 
the  whole  country.  His  popularity  was,  as  his  views,  national ; 
in  Massachusetts  he  was  no  less  regarded  than  in  South 
Carolina  ;  his  name  was  familiarized  everywhere. 

He  soon  after  became  a  member  of  Mr.  Munroe's  cabinet 
and,  in  that  position,  lent  new  force  to  the  policy  he  had  so 
warmly  advocated  while  in  Congress.  In  fact,  by  this  time, 
his  congressional  and  ministerial  services  had  determined  the 
minds  of  many  influential  politicians  in  various  sections  of  the 
country,  to  bring  him  out  as  the  most  proper  candidate  for 
the  presidency.  In  the  North,  he  was  especially  a  favorite. 
His  efficient  advocacy  of  internal  improvements,  sound  cur 
rency,  and  protection  of  domestic  manufactures,  had  gained 
him  a  strong  alliance  there.  Mr.  Webster,  among  others, 
was  not  insensible  either  to  his  services,  or  to  the  popularity 
they  had  justly  given  him  ;  and  he  advised  a  young  friend  of 
his,  then  editing  a  paper  in  one  of  the  New  England  States, 
and  who  had  sought  his  views  in  regard  to  the  proper  candi 
date  of  the  North  for  the  presidency  in  the  approaching  cam 
paign,  (1824,)  to  support  Mr.  Calhoun  for  the  position  ;  un 
fortunately,  a  short-sighted,  narrow,  sectional  pride  of  feeling 
induced  New  England  to  give  its  vote  to  John  Quincy  Adams, 
whose  elevation,  by  a  seeming  retributive  justice,  did  more  to 
render  New  England  men,  measures  and  views  unpopular,  than 
any  other  political  event  could  possibly  have  done.  New 
England  has  never  recovered  from  this  untoward  event. 

At  the  closa   of  the  fourteenth  Congress,  thf   three  names 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  55 

most  distinguished  m  it — WEBSTER,  CLAY,  CALHOUN — occu 
pied,  almost  exclusively,  the  minds  of  all  men.  There  was 
nothing,  seemingly,  beyond  the  scope  of  their  ambition  or  at 
tainment.  They  had  but  to  form  a  triumvirate,  and  divide 
the  world  between  them  ;  not  in  contemporaneous  but  alter 
nate  fruition.  Had  they  done  so,  the  historian  of  the  twenty- 
four  years  in  which  they  should  have  filled  the  presidential 
chair  would  have  described  an  era  of  national  honor,  national 
prosperity,  and  national  greatness,  the  like  of  wnich,  in  no 
country,  have  the  records  of  ancient  or  modern  times  afforded. 
The  imagination  halts  in  the  vain  attempt  to  reach  the  com 
prehension  of  such  an  ideal,  and  turns  unsatisfied  away. 

The  devoted  friends  of  these  eminent  men  might  be  equally 
unwilling  and  unable  to  say,  whose  hot  ambition  of  the  three 
prevented  such  a  glorious  consummation  ;  in  after  times,  how 
ever,  the  impartial  historian,  reviewing  carefully  their  cha 
racter  and  conduct,  may  discover,  and  demonstrate  to  the 
world,  the  one  most  faithless  to  the  present,  and  all  future 


After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  in  August,  1816,  Mr. 
Webster  left  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  and  established  his 
residence  in  Boston.  His  professional  practice  in  New 
Hampshire  had  ceased  to  afford  him  and  his  family  a  liveli 
hood,  broken  in  upon,  as  it  was,  by  his  duties  at  Washington. 
In  Boston,  his  name  as  an  advocate  and  orator  was,  by  this 
time  well  known ;  and  influential  friends  there  succeeded 


56  CHAPTER    II. 

in   prevailing   upon   him  to   select   that  city  for   his   future 
home. 

He  never  has  since  gone  into  a  New  Hampshire  court,  ex 
cept  on  one  occasion,  when  he  went  down  from  Boston  in 
September,  1817,  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case. 

The  question  in  this  case  was — whether  certain  acts  of  the 
New  Hampshire  Legislature,  purporting  to  enlarge,  and  im 
prove  the  Corporation  of  Darmouth  College,  and  amend  its 
charter,  were  binding  upon  the  Corporation,  without  their 
acceptance  or  assent ;  and  not  repugnant  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  ?  Mr.  Webster  argued  the  case  as  counsel 
for  the  Corporation.  The  opinion  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
the  State,  before  which  it  was  argued,  as  delivered  by  Chief 
Justice  Richardson,  was  in  favor  of  the  validity  and  constitu 
tionality  of  the  acts  ;  and  judgment  was  entered  accordingly. 

Whereupon  a  writ  of  error  was  sued  out  by  the  Corpora 
tion  of  the  College  to  remove  the  cause  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  It  came  on  for  argument  there  in  March, 
1818,  and  before  all  the  judges.  It  was  argued  by  Mr.  Webster 
and  Mr.  Hopkinson  for  the  plaintiffs  in  error,  and  by  Mr 
Holmes  and  the  Attorney-General,  for  the  other  side. 

The  question  involved  in  this  case  was  quite  new  to  oui 
jurisprudence  ;  and  when  the  case  had  been  called  up  for  ar 
gument,  and  Mr.  Justice  Story  had  run  his  eye  over  it,  he 
said  he  did  not  see  how  anything  could  be  made  out  of  it. 

He  changed  his  opinion  on  the  hearing  of  Mr.  Webster's 
argument,  and  coincided  with  his  colleagues  in  declaring  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  57 

acts  of  the  Legislature  unconstitutional  and  invalid,  and  in  re 
versing  the  judgment  of  the  State  Court.* 

This  may  be  called  Mr.  Webster's  first  constitutional  argu 
ment  ;  and  in  this  view  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  provoke  its 
careful  study ;  even  if  it  did  not  embrace  the  clearest,  yet 
most  succinct  account  of  eleemosynary  corporations,  of  their 
character  and  purposes,  their  privileges,  property  and  immu 
nities,  ever  expressed  in  words.  No  case,  however  remotely 
connected  with  it  in  principle,  has  since  been  argued,  or  ever 
will  be,  but  with  liberal  quotations  of  its  language  and 
opinions. 

When  Mr.  Webster  removed  to  Boston,  he  had  still  one 
session  to  serve  as  member  of  Congress  from  New  Hampshire. 
It  was  a  session  of  no  great  importance  to  Mr.  Webster's  per- 

*  From  the  security  gained  to  the  chartered  privileges  of  this  corpo 
ration  by  Mr.  Webster,  through  this  final  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  he  is  entitled  to  be  considered  the  second  founder  of 
the  institution.  He  far  more  than  repaid  by  his  success  all  he  obtained 
from  his  collegiate  education.  His  name  should  be  held  in  grateful  com 
memoration  there,  in  all  coming  ages,  no  less  than  that  of  Henry  VI. 

at  Eton : 

"  Where  grateful  science  still  adores 

Her  holy  Henry's  shade." 

It  is  no  little  creditable  in  the  mean  time,  to  the  character  of  New 
Hampshire,  that  its  Legislature  and  citizens  generally,  rendered  an  im 
mediate  if  not  cheerful  obedience  to  the  decision  of  the  highest  tribunal 
known  to  the  constitution.     But  New  Hampshire  ever  was  a  law-abid 
ing  and  authority-regarding  State. 


58 


CHAPTER    II. 


sonal  history,  or  to  the  country.  No  agitating  questions  were 
brought  before  it,  either  of  domestic  or  foreign  character; 
and  legislation  was  moderate  and  unimpeded. 

A  domestic  affliction  fell  upon  Mr.  Webster  this  winter 
while  at  Washington.  His  daughter,  Grace — his  only 
daughter  at  that  time — died,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1817. 
Her  sickness  and  subsequent  death,  detained  him  from  his 
seat  in  Congress  during  the  month  of  January. 

On  the  rising  of  Congress,  Mr.  Webster  returned  to  Bos 
ton,  and  entered  with  diligence  on  the  labors  of  his  profession. 

And  these  labors  were  both  arduous  and  incessant ;  they 
were  also  lucrative.  Clients  crowded  numerously  upon  him, 
bringing  copious  fees.  He  had  not  been  two  years  in  Boston, 
before  his  income  from  his  professional  practice  was  greater 
than  that  of  any  lawyer  of  his  time,  or  any  that  had  preceded 
him.  His  reputation  grew  with  his  means  ;  and  no  one  of  his 
profession  had  before  him  such  a  brilliant  and  remunerating, 
if  laborious,  prospect. 


CHAPTER    III. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  engrossing  nature  of  Mr.  Web 
ster's  professional  pursuits,  he  found  occasional  time,  "  vacare 
Musis" — to  gratify  that  love  of  reading  and  general  acqui 
sition,  which  has  grown  with  his  growth  and  strengthened  with 
his  strength.  He  also  found  time  to  comply  with  the  earnest 
wishes  of  friends,  who  sought  his  contribution  to  the  cause  of 
history  and  literature.  Belonging  to  such,  is  the  Discourse  he 
delivered  at  Plymouth,  in  December,  1820.  It  is  not  pro 
posed  to  analyse  this  celebrated  production  here.  Every  one 
has  read  it  who  knows  how  to  read,  or  what  to  read.  But  it 
may  not  be  inopportune  to  introduce  a  remarkable  prediction 
contained  in  it.  Speaking  of  the  energy,  the  enterprise  and 
success  of  the  natives  of  New  England,  the  orator  says  :  "  It 
may  be  safely  asserted,  that  there  are  now  more  than  a  million 
of  people,  descendants  of  New  England  ancestry,  living  free 
and  happy,  in  regions,  which  hardly  sixty  years  ago  were 
tracts  of  unpenetrated  forest.  Nor  do  rivers,  or  mountains 
or  seas  resist  the  progress  of  industry  and  enterprise.  Ert 
long,  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  will  be  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific." 


60  CHAPTER    III. 

It  is  but  one  of  the  many  instances  of  far-reaching  vision, 
amounting,  indeed,  to  what  the  Scotch  call  second-sight ,  Mr. 
Webster  has,  on  various  occasions,  exhibited.  The  compre 
hension  of  the  Future  from  the  study  of  the  Past  distinguishes, 
in  truth,  the  man  of  intellect  from  the  crowd  :  in  ancient 
times  it  made  the  prophet ;  in  modern,  it  forms  the  statesman. 

Mr.  Webster  was  not  permitted  to  remain  long  undisturbed 
in  the  enjoyment  of  professional  eminence  and  domestic  com 
fort.  Private  friendship  and  State  pride  alike  sought  gratifi 
cation  in  his  return  to  the  National  councils.  He  had  not 
been  two  years  in  his  adopted  State  before  he  was  urged,  ve 
hemently,  by  repeated  application  of  friends  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  House.  On  his  refusal,  an  election  to  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  was  offered  him  on  the  part  of  his  friends  in 
the  Legislature.  The  present  Chief  Justice  Shaw  and  late 
Judge  Hubbard,  both  then  distinguished  members  of  the 
Legislature,  called  upon  him  at  Dorchester,  where  he  then 
was  passing  the  summer,  with  this  invitation.  These  various 
applications  he  entirely  declined,  seeking  to  devote  himself 
exclusively  to  the  practice  of  the  Law.  Attaining  to  the 
highest  professional  distinction,  and  emoluments,  not  only  ade 
quate  to,  but  beyond  his  wants,  he  had  enough  for  ambition, 
and  could  not  look  elsewhere  safely  for  happiness.  He  fol 
lowed  his  profession  with  a  devotion  that  knew  no  interruption 
save  from  necessary  relaxation.  What  time  he  could  spare 
from  the  throng  of  clients,  he  resorted  to  field  sports  and 
rural  sxcrcise  ;  nor  did  they  profit  less  than  himself  from  such 


DANIEL    WEBSTEK.  61 

occasional  diversion.  This,  in  truth,  might  Ibe  pronounced 
the  most  equable,  and,  perhaps,  the  most  contented  period  of 
•us  life 

He  was  not  insensible,  however,  to  the  calls  of  public  duty. 
Jesides  serving  a  few  weeks  as  member  of  the  Legislature,  he 
uras  an  elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  at  Mr.  Mun- 
roe's  second  election  in  1820,  and  also  a  delegate  to  the  con 
vention  chosen  to  revise  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  in 
1821. 

In  this  convention  he  acted  no  unimportant  part.  In 
truth,  it  may  be  said,  that  there  were  few  if  any  measures  of 
much  consequence  adopted  by  it,  which  did  not  bear  the  im 
press  of  his  mind.  He  encountered  in  this  convention  men 
of  the  Commonwealth,  most  eminent  for  their  knowledge  of 
the  history  and  philosophy  of  legislation  and  jurisprudence, 
among  whom  it  certainly  cannot  be  invidious  to  mention  the 
venerated  name  of  JOHN  ADAMS.  This  renowned  patriot, 
sage,  and  statesman  was  drawing  fatally  near  the  close  of  life, 
but  his  last,  as  his  earliest,  thought  was  his  country's.  He 
had  rocked  the  cradle  of  the  Nation,  and  protected  its  infancy  ; 
and  now  that  it  had  gained  firmness  of  limb  and  muscular 
vigor,  and  could  go  alone,  he  still  held  over  it  an  affectionate, 
and  paternal  care.  Greatness  and  goodness  attended  upon  him 
and  ministered  to  his  happiness.  "Possessing,"  says  Mr. 
Webster  of  him,  "  all  his  faculties  to  the  end  of  his  long  life, 
with  an  unabated  love  of  reading  and  contemplation,  in  the 
centre  of  interesting  circles  of  friendship  and  affection,  he  was 


62  CHAPTER    III. 

blessed  in  his  retirement,  with  whatever  of  repose  and  felicity 
the  condition  of  man  allows."* 

The  Convention  was  indeed  distinguished  for  the  great  array 
of  intellect  and  public  experience  contained  in  it. 

Mr.  Webster  took  an  active  part  in  its  proceedings,  and 
made  a  number  of  energetic  speeches  in  it ;  one  upon  a  reso 
lution  relative  to  oaths  of  office  ;  another  upon  a  resolution  to 
divide  the  State  into  districts,  for  the  choice  of  Senators  ac 
cording  to  population  ;  and  a  third  upon  the  removal  of  judi 
cial-  officers  by  the  Governor  and  Council.  These  speeches,  as 
their  subjects  would  seem  to  require,  were  almost  wholly  ar 
gumentative.  There  was  no  need  of  rhetoric,  and  no  oppor- 

=*  In  conversation  once  with  Mr.  Webster,  he  spoke  to  me  of  his  last 
interview  with  Mr.  Adams,  which  I  give  in  as  much  as  I  recollect  of 
his  words :  "  I  remember,"  he  said,  "  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  Mr. 
Adams.  It  was  the  day  I  delivered  the  Discourse  on  the  laying  of  the 
corner  stone  on  Bunker  Hill.  I  called  to  see  him,  to  pay  my  respects  to 
him,  on  my  way  home. 

"  It  was  a  hot,  sultry  day  in  June.  I  found  him  lying  on  a  sofa,  ap 
parently  fatigued,  and  breathing  not  without  difficulty.  He  had  become 
fat,  heavy,  and  unwieldy ;  his  flesh  hung  down  his  face,  full  and  flabby. 

"  He  had  an  original  nervous  way  of  expressing  himself,  even  in  ordi 
nary  conversation.  He  always  said  something  which  you  could  after 
wards  recollect. 

"  While  I  was  with  him,  and  conversing  on  the  common  topics  of  the 
day,  some  one — a  friend  of  his — came  in  and  made  particular  enquiry 
of  his  health.  '  I  am  not  well,'  he  replied.  '  I  inhabit  a  weak,  frail, 
decayed  tenement ;  battered  by  the  winds,  and  broken  in  upon  by  the 
storms ;  and  from  all  I  ran  learn,  the  landlord  dors  not  intend  to  repair}  " 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  63 

tunity  for  the  display  of  eloquence.  On  one  occasion,  how 
ever,  Mr.  Webster  was  provoked  into  something  more  impas 
sioned  and  agitating  than  simple  argument.  It  was  in  reply 
to  a  member,  who  had  said  that  classifying  towns  for  the  choice 
of  representatives,  instead  of  giving  every  town  a  represents 
tive,  however  small  its  population,  was  forging  chains  and  fet 
ters  for  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  "  Chains  and  fetters  !" 
said  Mr.  Webster.  "  This  convention  of  delegates,  chosen  by 
the  people  within  this  month,  and  going  back  to  the  people 
divested  of  all  power  within  another  month,  yet  occupying  their 
space  of  time  here  in  forging  chains  and  fetters  for  themselves 
and  their  constituents!  '  Chains  and  fetters!'  A  popular 
assembly,  of  four  hundred  men,  combining  to  fabricate  these 
manacles  for  the  people — and  nobody  but  the  honorable  mem 
ber  from  Worcester  with  sagacity  enough  to  detect,  the  horrible 
conspiracy,  or  honesty  enough  to  disclose  it !  '  Chains  and 
fetters  !'  An  assembly  most  variously  composed — men  of  all 
professions  and  all  parties — of  different  ages,  habits,  and  asso 
ciations — all  freely  and  recently  chosen  by  their  towns  and 
districts  ;  yet  this  assembly  in  one  short  month  contriving  to 
fetter  and  enslave  itself  and  its  constituents  !  Sir,  there  are 
some  things  too  extravagant  for  the  ornament  and  decoration 
of  oratory  ;  some  things  too  excessive  even  for  the  fictions  of 
poetry  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  a  little  reflection  would  have 
persuaded  the  honorable  member,  that  when  he  speaks  of  this 
assembly  as  committing  outrages  on  the  rights  of  the  people, 
and  as  forging  chains  and  fetters  for  their  subjugation,  he  does 


64  CHAPTER    III. 

as  great  injustice  to  his  own  character  as  a  correct  and  manly 
debater,  as  he  does  to  the  motives  and  intelligence  of  this  body." 

These  remarks,  and  especially  the  manner  and  countenance 
with  which  they  were  pronounced,  somewhat  excited  the  usually 
phlegmatic  assembly ;  many  persons,  then  members,  yet  lik 
to  speak  of  the  effect  which  they  produced. 

Mr.  Webster's  reputation  daily  augmenting  as  an  orator  and 
statesman,  the  desire  on  the  part  of  his  political  friends  to  re 
turn  him  to  Congress  grew  stronger  and  stronger  ;  till  at  length, 
in  the  fall  of  1822,  a  Committee,  consisting  of  Col.  Thos.  H 
Perkins,  Wni.  Sturgis,  Win,  Sullivan,  John  T.  Apthorp  and 
Daniel  Messinger,  called  on  him,  with  the  information  that  he 
had  been  agreed  upon  as  candidate  for  Representative  to  Con 
gress.  Col.  Perkins  read  to  him  the  vote  by  which  he  was 
nominated  in  the  Convention,  and  the  letter  which  was  drawn 
up  to  accompany  the  vote  ;  and,  saying  that  he  had  been  in 
structed  by  the  Convention  to  bring  back  no  answer,  retired 
with  the  rest  of  the  Committee. 

This  severe  and  continued  pressure  finally  overcame  Mr. 
Webster's  objections.  He  had  declined  with  no  Richard-like 
reluctance,  eager  to  grasp  what  he  seemed  desirous  to  refuse, 
but  from  an  honest,  sincere,  heart-felt  reluctance.  He  knew, 
on  entering  public  life  again,  he  must  abandon  professional 
emoluments  and  domestic  comfort.  What  honors  he  had  al 
ready  attained  to  in  National  Councils  were  sufficient  to  fill  his 
ambition  ;  and  he  saw  nothing  in  any  prospect,  however  bril- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  65 

liant,  of  political  life,  to  compensate  for  the  sacrifice  he  needs 
must  make  to  secure  it. 

Others  would  enjoy  his  labors.  It  seems  the  destiny  of 
Genius  to  pursue  unrequited  toil,  at  least  of  that  genius  that 
labors  in  public  affairs.  There  are  services,  too,  that  money 
cannot  inspire  nor  compensate.  The  statesman  may  originate 
and  digest  a  commercial  code  that  gives  competency  and  wealth 
to  thousands — enhancing  an  hundred-fold  the  prosperity  of  his 
country.  He  may  declare  and  conduct  a  necessary  war,  to 
secure  its  rights  and  extend  its  dominion  ;  or  establish  a  per 
manent  and  honorable  peace,  with  countless  attendant  blessings. 
He  may  open  new  marts  for  native  industry,  suggest  new 
channels  for  enterprising  labor,  foster  new  inventions,  and  per 
fect  new  arts,  in  the  plentitude  of  his  power  and  capacity. 
Under  him,  a  new  spirit  of  enterprise  may  spring  up  ;  new 
sources  of  wealth,  hitherto  unexplored,  be  revealed ;  and  all 
the  great  interests  of  society  receive  an  impulse  that  can  com 
prise  no  definition  nor  limit.  But  the  prosperity  of  his  country 
is  his  own  martyrdom  For  her  greatness  he  sacrifices  per 
sonal  independence,  domestic  charities,  health,  and,  too  often, 
life  itself.  Pitt  died  at  the  age  of  forty-seven,  overwhelmed 
with  debt.  He  gave  his  country  a  position  far  above  the 
powers  of  Europe  and  the  world,  and  she  gave  him  a  funeral. 
Fox  went  down  to  the  tomb,  overtasked  and  worn-out,  in  mind 
and  body.  While  the  wounded  sensibilities  of  Canning,  ex 
cited  almost  to  phrenzy  by  the  proud  man's  contumely  and  the 

base  man's  ingratitude,  could  find  no  solace  but  in  the  grave. 
^ 


66  CHAPTER    III 

Yet  grateful  England  showers  upon  ner  well-deserving  se  -« 
vants  places,  and  pensions,  and  titles  ;  compensating,  in  tl  e 
eyes  of  the  unthinking  multitude,  perhaps,  for  broken  health 
and  shortened  life.  All  England  can  do,  at  least  she  does  with 
no  niggard  hand,  but  with  a  generosity  becoming  her  history 
and  greatness;  All  may  not  bring  satisfaction  to  the  bruise  1 
spirit,  but  it  averts  the  charge  of  ingratitude  from  her 

In  this  country  the  statesman,  who,  by  thought,  word,  or 
action,  gains  ascendancy  for  a  policy  or  party,  may  add  vast 
augmentation  to  the  wealth  of  the  country,  and  enable  cool, 
plodding,  enterprising  individuals,  by  the  accumulation  of  largo, 
fortunes,  to  obtain  a  seat  in  Congress,  in  the  Cabinet,  or  even 
a  Foreign  Mission.  But  what  does  he  gain  for  himself,  for  al . 
his  transcendant  ability  and  service  ?  Injurious  accusations, 
while  living  ;  and  in  death,  at  best,  a  doubtful  eulogy. 

But  Mr.  Webster  yielded  to  the  importunate  solicitations  of 
friends,  and  was  elected  Representative  to  Congress  from  the 
city  of  Boston,  in  the  fall  of  '22,  by  1000  majority  over  Jesse 
Putnam. 

Returning  to  the  House,  he  found  the  Chair  occupied,  as  ho 
had  left  it,  by  Henry  Clay.  Other  familiar  faces  he  also  met, 
and  felt  quite  at  home.  Early  in  the  session  the  question  of 
the  Greek  Revolution  was  agitated  ;  and  on  the  8th  of  Decem 
ber,  1823,  Mr.  "Webster  presented  the  following  resolution,  in 
the  House  of  Representatives :  "  Resolved,  That  provision 
ought  to  be  made,  by  law,  for  defraying  the  expense  incident 
to  the  appointment  of  an  Agent  or  Commissioner  to  Greece. 


l.ANIEL    WEBSTER.  67 

whenever  the  President  shall  deem  it  expedient  to  make  such 
appointment."  In  introducing  this  resolution,  Mr.  Webster 
made  an  appropriate  speech,  in  the  beginning  of  which  he 
said  :  "  We  must,  indeed,  fly  beyond  the  civilized  world  ;  we 
must  pass  the  dominion  of  law,  and  the  boundaries  of  knowledge ; 
we  must,  more  especially,  withdraw  ourselves  from  this  place, 
and  the  scenes  and  objects  which  here  surround  us,  if  we  would 
separate  ourselves  entirely  from  all  those  memorials  of  herself 
which  ancient  Greece  has  transmitted  for  the  admiration  and 
the  benefit  of  mankind.  This  free  form  of  government,  this 
popular  assembly,  the  common  council  held  for  the  common 
good,  where  have  we  contemplated  its  earliest  models  ?  This 
practice  of  free  debate  and  public  discussion,  the  contest  of 
mind  with  mind,  and  that  popular  eloquence,  which,  if  it  were 
now  here,  on  a  subject  like  this,  would  move  the  stones  of  the 
Capitol, — whose  was  the  language  in  which  all  these  were  first 
exhibited  ?  Even  the  edifice  in  which  we  assemble,  these  pro 
portioned  columns,  this  ornamental  architecture,  all  remind  us 
that  Greece  has  existed,  and  that  we,  like  the  rest  of  mankind, 
are  greatly  her  debtors  But  I  have  not  introduced  this  motion 
in  the  vain  hope  of  discharging  any  of  this  accumulated  debt 
of  centuries.  I  have  not  acted  upon  the  expectation  that  we, 
who  have  inherited  this  obligation  from  our  ancestors,  should 
now  attempt  to  pay  it  to  those  who  may  seem  to  have  inherited, 
from  their  ancestors,  a  right  to  receive  payment.  What  I  have 
to  say  of  Greece  concerns  the  modern,  not  the  ancient ;  the 
living,  and  not  the  dead.  It  regards  her,  not  as  she  exists  in 


68  CHAPTER    III. 

history,  triumphant  over  time,  and  tyranny,  and  ignorance, 
but  as  she  now  is,  contending,  against  fearful  odds,  for  being, 
and  for  the  common  privilege  of  human  nature." 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  alluded  in  terms  of  severe, 
but  just  reprobation,  to  the  character  of  the  Treaty  concluded 
at  Paris  in  1815,  between  Russia,  Prussia,  and  Austria,  com 
monly  known  under  the  title  (assumed,  one  might  suppose,  in 
bitter  mockery,)  of  "  The  Holy  Alliance."  Mr.  "Webster  said, 
he  wanted  words  to  express  his  abhorrence  of  the  abominable 
principles  proclaimed  in  the  preamble  to  this  Alliance,  the 
establishment  of  which  was  menaced  by  a  million  and  a  half 
of  bayonets.  "  Human  liberty  may  yet,  perhaps,"  said  he, 
"  be  obliged  to  repose  its  principal  hopes  on  the  intelligence 
and  the  vigor  of  the  Saxon  race.  So  far  as  depends  on  us,  at 
least,  I  trust  those  hopes  will  not  be  disappointed." 

To  the  question  as  to  what  this  nation  should  do  ;  whether 
we  should  declare  war  for  the  sake  of  Greece,  and  if  not,  if  we 
would  neither  furnish  armies  nor  navies,  what  we  should  do  ; 
what  was  in  our  power  ?  he  replied,  in  some  of  the  happiest 
language  even  he  ever  commanded  :  "  Sir,  this  reasoning  mis 
takes  the  age.  The  time  has  been,  indeed,  when  fleets,  and 
armies,  and  subsidies  were  the  principal  reliances  even  in  the 
best  cause.  But,  happily  for  mankind,  there  has  arrived  a 
great  change  in  this  respect.  Moral  causes  come  into  consi 
deration,  in  proportion  as  the  progress  of  knowledge  is  ad 
vanced  ;  and  the  public  opinion  of  the  civilized  world  is  rapidly 
gaining  an  ascendancy  over  mere  brutal  force.  It  may  be  si- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  69 

lenced  by  military  power,  but  it  cannot  be  conquered.  It  is 
elastic,  irrepressille,  and  invulnerable  to  the  weapons  of  ordi 
nary  warfare.  It  is  that  impassable,  inextinguishable  enemy 
of  mere  violence  and  arbitrary  rule,  which,  like  Milton's  angels, 

'  Vital  in  every  part, 
Cannot,  but  by  annihilating,  die.' 

Unless  this  be  propitiated  or  satisfied,  it  is  in  vain  for  power 
to  talk  either  of  triumphs  or  repose.  No  matter  what  fields 
are  desolated,  what  fortresses  surrendered,  what  armies  sub 
dued,  or  what  provinces  overrun,  there  is  an  enemy  that  still 
exists  to  check  the  glory  of  these  triumphs.  It  follows  the 
conqueror  back  to  the  very  scene  of  his  ovations  ;  it  calls  upon 
him  to  take  notice  that  the  world,  though  silent,  is  yet  indig 
nant  ;  it  shows  him  that  the  sceptre  of  his  victory  is  a  barren 
sceptre  ;  that  it  shall  confer  neither  joy  nor  honor,  but  shall 
moulder  to  dry  ashes  in  his  grasp.  In  the  midst  of  his  exul 
tation,  it  pierces  his  ear  with  the  cry  of  injured  justice  ;  it  de 
nounces  against  him  the  indignation  of  an  enlightened  and 
civilized  age  ;  it  turns  to  bitterness  the  cup  of  his  rejoicing, 
and  wounds  him  with  the  sting  which  belongs  to  the  con 
sciousness  of  having  outraged  the  opinion  of  mankind.'7 

President  Monroe  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  session,  had  expressed  a  warm  sym 
pathy  for  the  Greeks,  in  their  struggle  for  independence  ;  and 
Mr.  Webster's  motive  and  action  contemplated  some  recipro 
cation  of  his  sentiments,  on  the  part  of  the  House*  so  far  as  it 
should  approve  them.  His  resolution  was  designed  to  have 


70  CHAPTER    III 

this  effect,  and  no  more.  It  failed,  however,  of  favorable  ac 
tion.  It  took  the  House  too  much  by  surprise,  accustomed 
rather  to  propositions  of  a  temporary  and  local  character.  . 

Mr.  Webster  made  one  other  great  speech,  during  this  Con 
gress,  upon  a  question  of  more  domestic  nature.  It  was 
upon  the  Tariff  of  1824 — which  he  opposed  on  the  ground  of 
expediency  solely.  The  philosophic  or  economical  character 
of  this  speech  may  be,  in  part,  judged  of  from  one  quotation : 
"  There  is  a  broad  and  marked  distinction,"  he  said,  "  be 
tween  entire  prohibition,  and  reasonable  encouragement.  It  is 
one  thing  by  duties  or  taxes  on  foreign  articles,  to  awaken  a 
home  competition  in  the  production  of  the  same  articles ;  it  is 
another  thing  to  remove  all  competition  by  a  total  exclusion 
of  the  foreign  article ;  and  it  is  quite  another  thing  still,  by 
total  prohibition,  to  raise  at  home  manufactures  not  suited  to 
the  climate,  the  nature  of  the  country,  or  the  state  of  the 
population.  These  are  substantial  distinctions,  and  although 
it  may  not  be  easy  in  every  case,  to  determine  which  of  them 
applies  to  a  given  article,  yet  the  distinctions  themselves 
exist,  and,  in  most  cases,  will  be  sufficiently  clear  to  indicate 
the  true  course  of  policy." 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  opposition  of  Mr.  Webster, 
and  the  Massachusetts  Representatives  generally,  the  bill 
passed  into  a  law,  and  New  England  was  obliged  to  conform 
her  temper  and  business  to  its  operation. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  1824,  Mr.  Webster  was  re-elected  to 
Congress,  receiving  4,990  votes  of  the  5,000  thrown — an  en- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  71 

dorsement  by  popular  favor  probably  without  precedent  in  the 
annals  of  our  political  contests. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  too,  canae  off  the  election  of  Presi 
dent.  ANDREW  JACKSON,  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  WM.  H 
CRAWFORD  and  HENRY  CLAY,  were  all  candidates,  and  all  re 
ceived  electoral  votes  for  the  Presidential  office.  The  three 
first  were  returned  to  the  House  of  Kepresentatives,  as  being 
the  three  highest  candidates ;  G-eneral  Jackson,  by  an  em 
phatic  plurality  of  votes  that  indicated,  beyond  the  enter 
tainment  of  a  doubt,  his  superior  popularity.  The  potent  in 
fluence,  however,  of  Mr.  Clay  in  the  House  was  exerted  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Adams  ;  and  secured  for  him,  in  that  body,  a 
constitutional  election.  No  intelligent  man  in  the  country  be 
lieves  that  Mr.  Adams'  success  was  the  consequence  of  any 
previous  arrangement  between  himself  and  Mr.  Clay,  by  which 
the  latter,  in  such  event,  should  become  Secretary  of  State. 
Every  candid  man,  on  the  contrary,  will  coincide  in  the 
opinion,  expressed  by  Mr.  Webster  in  relation  to  the  subject, 
soon  after  the  in-coming  of  the  administration,  in  a  speech  at 
Fanueil  Hall :  "  He  would  take  this  occasion  to  say,  if  his 
opinion  could  be  of  any  value  in  such  a  case,  that  he  thought 
nothing  more  unfounded  than  that  that  gentleman  (Mr.  Clay) 
owed  his  present  position  to  any  unworthy  compromise  or  ar 
rangement  whatever.  He  owed  it  to  his  talent,  to  his  promi 
nent  standing  in  the  community,  to  his  course  of  public  service, 
not  now  a  short  one,  and  the  high  estimation  in  which  he 
stands  with  that  part  of  the  country  to  which  he  belongs." 


72  CHAPTER    III. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  however,  that  many  of  Mr.  Clay's 
friends  regretted  his  acceptance  of  the  highest  office  in  Mr. 
Adams'  administration, — -^because  such  acceptance  involved 
the  awkward  necessity  of  an  explanation.  A  suspicion,  they 
thought,  would  attach  to  his  motives,  and  always  attend  his 
position ;  and  suspicion,  they  knew,  often  produced  results  as 
fatal  to  character  as  proven  criminality.  Like  a  reckless 
spendthrift,  some  held — he  had  secured  a  temporary  gratifica 
tion  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  certain,  brilliant,  and  not  distant, 
Future. 

The  question  that  roost  agitated  the  politics  of  the  country 
during  Mr.  Adams'  administration,  was  the  PANAMA  MIS 
SION  ;  a  succinct  historical  account  of  which  may  not  be  im 
pertinent  here. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1823,  a  formal  invitation  was 
addressed  by  Spain  to  the  Courts  of  St.  Petersburg!!,  Vienna, 
Berlin,  and  Paris,  proposing  to  hold  a  conference  at  Paris,  in 
order  that  the  plenipotentiaries  there  convened,  might  assist 
Spain  in  adjusting  the  affairs  of  her  revolted  colonies  in  South 
America. 

The  proposed  meeting,  however,  did  not  take  place — per 
haps  in  consequence  of  the  decided  course  adopted  by  Mr. 
Canning  on  the  part  of  England — who,  in  a  conference  with 
the  French  minister  in  London,  declared  distinctly  and  em 
phatically,  that  England  would  consider  any  foreign  inter 
ference,  whether  by  arms  or  intimidation,  in  the  contest  be- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  73 

tween  Spain  and  hei  revolted  colonies,  as  a  conclusive  reason 
for  immediately  recognising  the  independence  of  the  Utter. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances,  and  at  this  crisis,  that 
Mr.  Monroe's  justly  celebrated  declaration  was  made ;  that 
our  government  would  consider  any  combination  of  European 
Powers  to  effect  objects,  whether  of  colonization  or  otherwise, 
in  America,  as  affecting  ourselves  ;  that  we  should  regard  such 
combination  as  dangerous  to  ourselves,  and  should  be  prepared 
to  meet  it  accordingly.  This  declaration  had  been  agreed  upon 
unanimously  in  Mr.  Monroe's  Cabinet  after  great  deliberation, 
Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Crawford  concurring  in  it  with  Mr. 
Adams.  It  met,  too,  with  the  entire  concurrence  of  the 
country,  as  wise,  seasonable,  and  patriotic.  In  England, 
also,  it  was  received  with  no  little  enthusiasm.  In  the  House 
of  Commons,  the  leading  minister  expressed  his  full  concur 
rence  in  the  sentiments  and  opinions  of  the  President,  while 
his  distinguished  competitor  in  that  body,  of  an  opposite  poli 
tical  party,  declared  that"  no  event  had  ever  created  greater 
joy,  exultation,  and  gratitude,  among  the  free  men  of  Europe ; 
that  he  felt  a  pride  in  being  connected,  by  blood  and  language, 
with  the  people  of  the  United  States  ;  that  the  policy  dis 
closed  by  the  message,  became  a  great,  a  free,  and  an  inde 
pendent  nation  ;  and  that  he  hoped  his  own  country  would  be 
prevented  by  no  mean  pride  or  paltry  jealousy,  from  following 
so  noble  and  glorious  an  example." 

"  I  look  on  the  message  of  December,    1823,"   said   Mi 

Webster,   in  the  House   of  Representatives,  "as  forming  a 
4* 


74  CHAPTER    III. 

bright  page  in  our  history.  I  will  neither  help  to  erase  it,  or 
tear  it  out ;  nor  shall  it  be,  by  any  act  of  mine,  blurred  or 
blotted.  It  does  honor  to  the  sagacity  of  the  government,  and 
I  will  not  diminish  that  honor.  It  elevated  the  hopes,  and 
gratified  the  patriotism  of  the  people.  Over  those  hopes  I  will 
not  bring  a  mildew ;  nor  will  I  put  that  gratified  patriotism  to 
shame." 

The  allies  were  deterred  from  taking  any  measures  in  con 
cert  with  Spain  for  the  subjugation  of  her  colonies  ;  but  their 
menacing  attitude  for  a  time  had  alarmed  the  colonies  them 
selves,  and  awakened  the  suspicions  of  our  Government. 

The  Panama  Mission  seemed  to  be  a  corollary  of  President 
Monroe's  message,  to  follow  as  a  proper  inference  from  the 
postulate,  that  American  governments  should  have  sole  con 
trol  of  American  interests.  It  proposed  no  belligerent  mea 
sures  ;  no  departure  from  the  neutral  policy  of  the  United 
States.  It  contemplated  only  a  negotiation  with  the  ministers 
of  other  American  Kepublics,  assembled  in  Congress  at 
Panama,  upon  commercial  and  international  relations.  What 
ever  should  be  agreed  upon  in  the  Congress,  was  to  be  of  no 
obligatory  force  whatever,  or  anywhere,  unless  afterwards  duly 
ratified  by  their. respective  governments. 

Mr.  Webster,  who  had  warmly  approved  the  message  of 
President  Monroe,  thought  himself  called  upon  to  support  a 
mission  which  seemed  the  legitimate  result  of  its  reasoning ; 
and,  in  April,  1826,  made  an  able  speech  upon  the  character 
and  purposes  of  the  mission. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  75 

It  was  unpopular,  however,  in  the  country  ;  less,  doubtless, 
from  the  nature  of  the  objects  it  proposed  to  accomplish,  than 
from  the  construction  of  the  Administration  which  recom 
mended  it. 

At  the  present  day  there  is,  probably,  not  a  sentiment  of 
the  speech  Mr.  Webster  made  on  the  subject  which  would  not 
meet  the  entire  and  hearty  concurrence  of  four-fifths  of  the 
nation.  The  policy  of  Mr.  Adams'  Administration,  in  this 
respect,  has  outlived  its  general  unpopularity. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  this  year  that  Mr.  Webster  de 
livered  his  discourse  in  commemoration  of  the  lives  and  ser 
vices  of  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  It  would  be  in 
vain  to  look  elsewhere  for  eulogies,  expressed  in  more  glowing 
and  elevated  language,  or  more  appropriate  to  their  subjects. 
The  funeral  orations  of  Bossuet,  deservedly  so  celebrated, 
have  not  the  repose,  the  dignity,  nor  sublimity  of  this.  It 
sounds  like  a  solemn  anthem  throughout.  "  Although  no 
sculptured  marble  should  rise  to  their  memory,  nor  engraved 
stone  bear  record  of  their  deeds,  yet  will  their  remembrance 
be  as  lasting  as  the  land  they  honored.  Marble  columns  may, 
indeed,  moulder  into  dust,  time  may  erase  all  impress  from 
the  crumbling  stone,  but  their  fame  remains ;  for  with 
AMERICAN  LIBERTY  ONLY  can  it  perish.  It  was  the  last 
Dwelling  peal  of  yonder  choir,  '  THEIR  BODIES  ARE  BURIED 

IN    PEACE,    BUT    THEIR    NAME    LIVETH    EVERMORE.'      I    Catch 

that  solemn  song,  I  echo  that  lofty  strain  of  funeral  triumph, 
'  THEIR  NAME  LIVETH  EVERMORE.'  " 


76  CHAPTER    III. 

The  speech  Mr.  Webster  has  put  into  the  moulh  of  John 
Adams  in  this  funeral  oration,  as  having  been  delivered  by 
him  in  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  in  1776,  commencing, 
"  Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give  my  hand 
and  my  heart  to  this  vote,"  has  been  often  mistaken  for  the 
production  of  Mr.  Adams  himself:  it  follows  so  inimitably 
Mr.  Adams'  style  and  forcible  expression,  Mr.  Webster  has 
been  applied  to,  on  several  occasions,  and  by  persons  of  liter 
ary  pretensions,  to  know  where  and  when  Mr.  Adams  delivered 
the  speech. 

The  address  on  laying  the  corner-stone  of  Bunker-Hill 
monument  was  made  a  year  before,  in  1825.  It  is  too 
familiar  to  every  one,  to  require  even  allusion  to  it. 

In  November,  1826,  Mr.  Webster  was  again  re-elected  to 
Congress,  and  by  a  vote  of  almost  entire  unanimity ;  but  be 
fore  he  took  his  seat,  under  this  canvass,  he  was  chosen  Sena 
tor  of  the  United  States,  in  place  of  the  ever-lamented  Elijah 
H.  Mills,  retired  from  ill  health.* 

The  lives  of  literary  characters  or  statesmen  seem  to  be  but, 
after  all,  an  account  of  their  productions  and  speeches.  They 
appear  to  have  no  domestic  life ;  or  none,  which  is  not  ab 
sorbed  in  the  engrossing  nature  of  their  pursuits.  Mr.  Web 
ster's  political  life,  however,  has  been  varied  by  his  professional 

*  According  to  the  records,  the  vote  of  the  Legislature  stood  thus :  in 
the  Senate,   Daniel  Webster  had   20  votes;  John   Mills.  11;  Edward 
Everett,  1;  Levi  Lincoln,  1.     Tn  the  House,  Daniel   Wehster  had  202 
'ohu  Mills,  82:  scattering,  44. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  77 

avocations,  and  mitigated  as  before  mentioned  by  his  addic 
tion  to  agricultural  and  rural  occupations.  In  this  latter  re 
spect,  it  has  resembled  Edmund  Burke'sj  who  was  distin 
guished  hardly  less  as  an  agriculturist  than  as  a  statesman  and 
orator. 

Mr.  "Webster  had  been  obliged  to  relinquish  a  large  por 
tion  of  his  practice — some  of  the  most  lucrative — by  his  re- 
entrance  into  public  life.  But  in  most  important  cases,  he 
was  still  retained,  particularly  in  such  as  were  to  receive  final 
disposition  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Of 
such,  among  others,  was  the  famous  case  of  Gibbons  vs.  Ogdcn, 
argued  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  1824,  when  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress  to  regulate  commerce,  as  a  sole  and  ex 
clusive  power ,  was  insisted  upon  and  triumphantly  established 
by  Mr.  Webster — the  judgment  of  the  Court,  as  pronounced 
by  Chief  Justice  Marshal,  following  closely  the  line  of  his 
argument.  In  this  argument,  he  made  use  of  the  expression, 
unit,  as  applicable  to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
which  General  Jackson  afterwards  borrowed  to  describe  the 
character  of  his  Cabinet.  Speaking  of  the  relinquishment  by 
States,  of  their  former  powers  over  commerce,  to  the  general 
government,  he  said :  "  Henceforth,  the  commerce  of  the 
States  was  to  be  an  unit ;  and  the  system  by  which  it  was  to 
exist  and  be  governed  must  necessarily  be  complete,  entire, 
and  uniform.  Its  character  was  to  be  described  in  the  flag 
which  waved  over  it,  E  PLURIEUS  UNUM." 

Other   cases    of  moment  Mr.  Webster   conducted  in  the 


78 


CHAPTER    III. 


Supreme  Court,  which  added  to  his  reputation  and  income.   It 
is  not  necessary  to  particularize  them  here. 

Nor  was  Mr.  "Webster's  public  life  unvaried  by  domestic 
calamities  ;  which  visit,  without  respect  to  persons,  the  families 
of  the  high  as  well  as  humble.  The  death  of  his  daughter 
some  years  previous  has  already  been  alluded  to  :  towards  the 
close  of  this  year,  1827,  a  still  greater  affliction  fell  upon  him, 
in  the  loss  of  his  wife.  He  was  on  his  woy  to  Washington, 
when  she  died.  Her  illness  and  subsequent  decease  prevented 
him  from  taking  his  seat  in  the  Senate  till  January,  '28. 

In  that  august  body,  ther  were  already  men  of  national 
eminence.  Besides  Mr.  Calb  in,  who  occupied  the  chair,  and 
Mr.  Forsyth,  of  Georgia,  bot  of  whom  Mr.  Webster  had  left 
the  year  before  in  the  House,  and  with  whom,  in  equal  en 
counter  he  had  measured  swords,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren,  more 
distinguished  afterwards ;  there  were  Benton  and  Barton,  of 
Missouri, — colleagues,  but  hostile,  of  great  but  opposite 
qualities — Woodbury  and  Bell,  of  New  Hampshire,  worthy 
Senators, — Tazewell  and  Tyler,  of  Yirginia,  ever  in  pursuit  of 
abstractions,  till  they  almost  became  such  themselves^ — Clay 
ton  of  Delaware,  Burnet  of  Ohio,  and  HAYNE,  whose  name 
needs  no  local  designation.  There  were  others,  if  not  all 
of  equal  position  in  the  country,  all  worthy  of  commemora 
tion. 

Mr.  Webster's  first  encounter  in  the  Senate  was  with  Mr. 
Tazewell,  upon  the  Process  Bill,  for  regulating  the  proceedings 
of  the  United  States  Courts.  The  speeches  were  rather  of  n 


DA>'IEL    WEBSTER.  79 

professional  character,  and  there  is  little  in  them,  or  any  in 
cident  connected  with  their  delivery,  to  interest  the  general 
reader. 

Mr.  Webster  exerted  himself  warmly  in  getting  through  a 
bill  for  the  relief  of  the  surviving  officers  of  the  Revolution ; 
and,  in  April  of  this  year,  made  an  earnest  and  effective  speech 
in  its  favor.  Speaking  of  the  conduct  and  services  of  the 
Revolutionary  army,  he  said:  "  It  had  faithfully  served  and 
saved  the  country  ;  and  to  that  country  it  now  referred,  with 
unhesitating  confidence,  its  claim  and  its  complaints.  It  laid 
down  its  arms  with  alacrity  ;  it  mingled  itself  with  the  mass 
of  the  community ;  and  it  waited,  till  in  better  times,  and 
under  a  new  government,  its  services  might  be  rewarded,  and 
the  promises  made  to  it  fulfilled.  Sir,  this  example  is  worth 
more,  far  more,  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty,  than  this  bill  will 
cost  us.  We  can  hardly  recur  to  it  too  often,  or  dwell  on  it 
too  much,  for  the  honor  of  our  country,  and  of  its  defenders. 
Meritorious  service  in  civil  war  is  worthy  of  peculiar  consider 
ation  ;  not  only  because  there  is,  in  such  war,  usually  less 
power  to  restrain  irregularities,  but  because,  also,  they  expose 
all  prominent  actors  in  them  to  different  kinds  of  danger.  It 
is  rebellion,  as  well  as  war.  Those  who  engage  in  it  must 
look  not  only  to  the  dangers  of  the  field,  but  to  confiscation 
also,  and  ignominious  death.  With  no  efficient  and  settled 
government,  either  to  sustain  or  to  control  them,  and  with 
every  sort  of  danger  before  them,  it  is  great  merit  to  have 
conducted  with  fidelity  to  the  country,  under  every  discourage- 


80  CHAPTER    III. 

ment  on  the  one  hand,  and  with  unconquerable  bravery  to 
wards  the  common  enemy  on  the  other.  So,  sir,  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  army  did  conduct." 

Owing  to  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Webster,  of  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
and  some  other  influential  members,  this  bill  of  great  remedial 
justice  finally  passed ;  his  aid  in  the  success  of  which,  Mr, 
"Webster  has  said,  on  some  occasion  since,  is  one  of  the  most 
grateful  of  his  Congressional  recollections. 

At  this  session,  a  new  Tariff  bill  passed :  "  the  bill  of 
abominations,"  as  it  was  sometimes  called.  For  the  four 
years  previous,  New  England  had  from  mere  necessity  turned 
its  attention  to  manufactures  ;  and  large  investments  had  been 
made  in  that  direction.  There  seemed  to  the  people  of  that 
section  no  alternative,  but  to  consider  the  cause  and  policy  of 
the  government  as  determined  and  fixed,  and  to  govern  them 
selves  accordingly. 

This  new  bill  contained  provisions,  which  seemed  of  a  vindic 
tive  character ;  as  if  intended  to  punish  such  persons  as  had 
derived  benefit  from  the  Tariff  of  '24,  though  compelled  to 
adopt  it  against  their  wishes. 

"  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  speech  on  the  passage  of 
the  bill — "  I  am  sure  there  is  nobody  here,  envious  of  the 
prosperity  of  New  England,  or  who  would  wish  to  see  it  de 
gtroyed.  But  if  there  be  such  anywhere,  I  cannot  chee? 
them  by  holding  out  the  hope  of  a  speedy  accomplishment  o! 
their  wishes.  The  prosperity  of  New  England,  like  that  of 
other  parts  of  the  country,  may,  doubtless,  be  affected  inju- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  8) 

riously  by  unwise  or  unjust  laws.  It  may  be  impaired,  espe 
cially,  by  an  unsteady  and  shifting  policy,  which  fosters  particu 
lar  objects  to-day,  and  abandons  them  to-morrow.  She  may 
advance  faster  or  slower;  but  the  propelling  principle,  be 
ssured,  is  in  her  ;  deep,  fixed,  and  active.  Her  course  is  on 
ward  and  forward.  The  great  powers  of  free  labor,  of  moral 
habits,  of  general  education,  of  good  institutions,  of  skill,  en 
terprise,  and  perseverance  are  all  working  with  her,  and 
for  her ;  and  on  the  small  surface,  which  her  population 
covers,  she  is  destined,  I  think,  to  exhibit  striking  results  of 
the  operation  of  these  potent  causes,  in  whatever  constitutes 
the  happiness,  or  belongs  to  the  ornament  of  human  society." 

Notwithstanding  the  serious  objections  to  the  bill,  Mr. 
Webster  considered  it  his  duty  to  vote  for  it,  as  the  best  alter 
native.  Its  defeat,  he  thought,  would  have  a  much  more 
calamitous  effect  upon  the  interests  of  the  country  generally 
than  its  adoption. 

He  voted  for  it  on  the  ground  of  expediency ;  and,  it  is 
upon  that  alone,  his  argument  in  favor  of  its  passage  rests. 
In  vain  should  we  look  in  this  speech  for  that  philosophical 
research,  that  entire  mastery  of  the  principles  of  political 
economy,  and  that  intimate  acquaintance  with  commercial  and 
financial  affairs  which  distinguished  his  speech  against  the 
Tariff  of  1824.  The  present  occasion,  however,  and  the  sub 
ject  required  less  range  of  thought ;  action  seemed  rather  de 
manded  than  argument ;  canvassing  than  eloquence. 

Returning  home   at  the  end  of  the  session,  and  meeting 


82  CHAPTER    III. 

some  portion  of  his  constituents  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Mr.  Web 
ster  made  allusion  to  the  necessity  under  which  he  had  found 
himself  placed,  by  a  most  strange  and  unprecedented  manner  of 
legislation,  of  taking  the  evil  of  a  public  measure  for  the  sake  of 
its  good.  "  The  candid  interpretation,"  said  he,  "  which  had 
been  given  to  that  vote,  by  those  who  disapproved  it,  and  the 
assembling  together  here,  for  the  purpose  of  this  occasion,  of 
those  who  felt  pain,  as  well  as  those  who  felt  pleasure,  at  the 
success  of  the  measure  for  which  the  vote  was  given,  afford 
ample  proof,  how  far  unsuspected  uprightness  of  intention,  and 
the  exercise  of  an  independent  judgment,  may  be  respected, 
even  by  those  who  differ  from  the  results  to  which  that  exer 
cise  of  judgment  has  arrived." 

Another  presidential  canvass  took  place  in  the  autumn  of 
this  year,  the  competitors  in  which  were  ANDREW  JACKSON 
and  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  The  popular  voice,  which  had 
not  invited  Mr.  Adams  to  the  chair  of  state,  precipitated  him 
from  it  with  emphatic  utterance.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1829, 
General  Jackson  took  possession  of  the  vacated  seat,  with  a 
temper  not  at  all  softened  by  the  unnecessary  delay  of  four 
years. 

"We  approach  now  the  most  important  era  of  Mr.  Webster's 
intellectual  life  ;  in  which  he  gained,  at  once  and  for  ever,  the 
highest  rank  as  a  debater  and  orator  No  previous  production 
of  his,  of  whatever  eminent  ability,  had  prepared  the  minds  of 
men  for  the  display  of  such  a  vast  variety  of  genius  as  he  ex- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  83 

hibited  in  this  greatest  intellectual  contest  of  the  age.  He 
had  always  been  equal  to  the  occasion,  it  is  true,  but  he  had 
never  hitherto  encountered  an  occasion  that  demanded  such 
infinite  resources. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

To  understand  fully  the  character  and  importance  of  tin 
GREAT  DEBATE,  as  it  was  called  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
day,  something  should  be  known  of  the  circumstances  that 
immediately  preceded  and  accompanied  it,  and  of  the  more 
distinguished  persons  who  participated  in  it. 

It  commenced,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
month  of  January,  1830,  during  the  first  session  of  the  21st 
Congress,  and  in  the  first  year  of  the  administration  of 
Andrew  Jackson  ;  and  lasted,  with  occasional  but  brief  inter 
ruptions,  four  months. 

Few  persons  ever  attained  to  eminent  position  in  this  or  any 
other  country,  under  more  auspicious  circumstances,  than 
Andrew  Jackson.  The  idol  of  a  party  comprising  much  the 
larger  portion  of  the  constituency  of  the  country,  respected 
for  the  many  liberal  qualities  of  his  head  and  heart,  even  by 
those  who  on  conviction,  or  from  interest,  had  opposed  his 
elevation,  this  distinguished  soldier  in  the  earlier  portion  of 
his  official  career,  gave  assurance  of  an  administration,  equally 
brilliant  and  popular.  In  the  presidential  campaign  of  1828, 
his  competitor  and  immediate  predecessor,  JOHN  QUINCY 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  85 

ADAMS,  whether  from  geographical  position,  or  from  a  want  of 
confidence  among  the  masses  in  the  policy  of  his  measures,  or 
purity  of  his  intentions,  or,  more  probable  yet,  from  personal 
unpopularity,  arising  from  a  cold  temperament  and  repulsive 
manners,  had  been  signally  and  disgracefully  defeated.  No 
where,  save  in  New  England,  and  even  there,  perhaps,  rather 
from  local  pride,  than  attachment  to  his  person,  or  respect  for 
his  public  character,  had  his  canvass  for  re-election  been 
honestly  sustained.  Elsewhere  his  efforts  and  those  of  his  par 
tisans  had  been  vehemently  rebuked.  General  Jackson  re 
ceived  a  majority  in  the  electoral  colleges  unprecedented  in 
the  previous  annals  of  party  contention. 

Undoubtedly  one  great  reason  of  Mr  Adams'  unpopularity, 
was  his  cold,  antipathetic  manner,  and  the  suspicion  of  selfish 
ness  it  suggested,  or  at  least  aided  greatly  to  confirm.  None 
approached  Mr.  Adams  but  to  recede.  He  never  succeeded, 
he  never  tried  to  conciliate.  He  seemed  one  of  those  persons 
— not  rare  on  earth — whose  enjoyment  stops  in  themselves ; 
who  find  no  pleasure  in  the  indulgence  of  social  feelings,  and 
cherish  no  hope  but  of  self  gratification.  Friendship  which 
receives  and  repays  mutual  benefit's,  which  responds  alike  to 
good  or  adverse  fortune,  which  removes  us  from  entire  isola 
tion,  expands  the  heart,  lends  new  force  to  genius,  and  a  nobler 
expression  to  thought,  he  never  seemed  capable  of  compre 
hending. 

His  mind,  wonderfully  precocious,  was  developed  at  the  ex 
pense  of  his  heart.  Undue  exercise  of  the  one,  as  happens 


86  CHAPTER    IV. 

with  the  limbs  of  the  body,  dwarfed  or  weakened  the  other. 
He  could  elaborate  vast  schemes  of  political  aggrandizement, 
construct  stupendous  tomes  of  incontrovertible  logic,  establish 
or  demolish  theories  of  perplexing  ingenuity  ;  but  he  was  ig~ 
norant  of  an  unselfish  emotion,  incapable  of  an  ennobling  ex 
pression,  and  constitutionally  insensible  to  other  than  personal 
hopes  arid  purposes. 

All  political  dogmas,  creeds  and  parties,  were  held  by  him 
in  like  consideration.  He  found  them  all  equally  fallacious  and 
equally  useful.  He  sacrificed  no  principle  in  espousing  or  re 
pudiating  either  or  all,  for  he  had  no  principles  to  sacrifice. 
Without  violence  to  his  feelings  or  judgment,  he  admitted  or 
rejected  propositions  and  measures.  He  knew  but  one  test  of 
their  soundness ;  how  far  they  were  useful,  so  far  and  so  long 
they  were  right.  In  whatever  other  respect  he  resembled  Cato 
Uticaensis,  in  one  he  differed  from  him  materially.  The  victa 
causa  never  pleased  him.  The  theory  that  failed  was  to  him 
illogical ;  the  party  that  fell,  unprincipled. 

This  intense  concentration  of  self  upon  self  gave  character 
to  his  countenance,  manners,  and  habits.  He  seemed  as  cold, 
passionless  and  inscrutable  as  the  Egyptian  Sphynx,  whose  fate, 
too,  his  own  resembled.  He  was  successful  while  his  secret 
was  undiscovered,  but  that  once  exposed,  he  sunk  for  ever. 

A  disposition  like  his  was  its  own  Nemesis.  Ever  graspinp 
at  honors,  success  rather  exasperated  than  satisfied  him.  While 
there  was  a  step  still  higher,  he  was  restless,  discontented, 
morose,  till  he  reached  it ;  and  when  reached,  the  fear  of  its 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  87 

loss  was  greater  than  the  pleasure  of  its  enjoyment,  and  kept 
his  mind  in  a  constant  turbulence.  A  want  of  sympathy  for 
others,  deadened  his  own  sense  of  his  elevation  ;  he  knew  not 
the  increase  of  gratification  from  reflection.  His  merit,  he 
thought,  provoked  service,  which,  like  virtue,  was  its  own  re 
ward.  He  therefore  felt  no  gratitude,  and  acknowledged  in 
his  favors  no  distinction  between  friend  and  enemy.  Success 
made  him  ungrateful,  and  defeat  vindictive  ;  the  one  he  easily 
forgot,  the  other  he  never  forgave. 

This  harshness  of  character  developed  itself  in  his  writings. 
Future  ages  no  less  than  the  present  will  suffer  from  its  ex 
pression.  A  severe  and  unyielding  logic  pervades  and  oppresses 
all  his  productions.  There  is  nothing  to  move  the  affections, 
to  rouse  the  fancy,  or  open  the  heart,  in  any.  In  all  the 
mighty  volumes  of  lectures,  essays,  correspondence,  state-papers 
and  speeches  with  which  he  has  terrified  mankind,  not  a  glo 
rious  sentiment,  magnanimous  idea,  or  soul-stirring  expression 
occurs.  They  are  all  lava-like,  destroying  everything  like 
fertilization. 

Such  a  character  could  secure  no  permanent  popularity.  It 
was  only  to  be  appreciated,  to  be  hated  ;  and  the  historian  will 
be  compelled  to  record,  among  the  most  prominent  causes  of 
Mr.  Adams'  ultimate  defeat,  his  selfish,  cold,  unsympathetic 
heart,  characterizing  manner  and  action. 

His  successful  competitor  was  cast  in  a  different  mould. 
Some  virtues  he  had,  and  others  he  assumed.  He  was  frank, 
affable,  and  impressionable  ;  and  if  not  always  sincere,  always 


88  CHAPTER    IV. 

had  the  appearance  of  sincerity.  It  was  easier  to  pardon  his 
vices,  than  to  acknowledge  the  virtues  of  his  rival ;  the  arro 
gance  of  the  latter  offending  self-love,  more  than  the  former 
the  moral  sense. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  however,  that  he  had  one  element  o 
popularity  which  his  opponent  needed.  This  was  his  brilliant 
military  reputation.  His  courage  and  conduct  in  several  severe 
emergencies,  and  more  particularly  in  one  crisis  of  our  public 
affairs,  during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  had  gained 
him  the  confidence  and  gratitude  of  his  countrymen.  This 
element  of  strength  had  been  sensibly  felt  in  the  preceding 
canvass,  and  was  perhaps  the  best  solution  of  the  almost  in 
credible  popularity  which  he  enjoyed. 

Still  his  military  achievements,  dazzling  as  they  were,  did 
not  constitute  his  sole  claim  to  popular  favor.  He  had  filled 
high  stations  in  civil  life,  in  National  as  well  as  in  State  Gov 
ernment  ;  in  all  of  which  he  had  given  evidence  of  a  deter 
mined  will,  an  honest  purpose,  and  sagacious  judgment,  that 
commanded  the  good-will  of  all  classes.  His  character  for 
moral,  physical,  and  intellectual  energy  was  known  everywhere. 
He  was  thought  to  possess,  too,  qualities  of  mind  rare  in  their 
independent  excellence,  and  only  less  than  miraculous  in  their 
combination.  And  hence  there  was  a  conviction,  no  more 
earnest  than  general,  with  the  well-informed  no  less  than  with 
the  vulgar,  that  he  could  cultivate  with  equal  success  the  some 
what  hostile  arts  of  war  and  peace. 

Everything,  therefore,  on  his  accession  to  power,  seemed  to 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  89 

promise  its  safe  and  long  continuance.  The  aspect  of  the 
political  sky  was  unclouded.  The  almost  unanimity  of  the 
popular  vote  by  which  this  hero-statesman  was  borne  into  the 
Presidency,  ridiculed  the  very  idea  of  opposition.  Hardly  a 
latent  inclination  remained  to  combat  the  measures  of  his  ad 
ministration :  the  ability  to  do  so  with  success  seemed  gone 
for  ever. 

Yet  though  the  Administration  had  no  cause  of  apprehension 
from  outward  assault,  persons  boasting  more  than  ordinary 
sagacity  foresaw,  or  professed  to  foresee,  the  inevitable  cause 
of  future  and  even  early  perplexity,  to  its  councils.  They 
discovered  it  in  the  character  of  the  political  alliance  that  ob 
tained  Gen.  Jackson  the  Presidency  ;  in  the  original  forma 
tion  of  this  alliance  ;  its  incongruous  materials  ;  its  compulsory 
cohesion ;  and  in  the  different  ends  proposed  by  its  several 
constituent  members. 

It  is  to  be  admitted,  that  two  divisions  of  the  Democratic 
party,  professing  and  advocating  doctrines  diametrically  oppo 
site,  had  leagued  together  to  consummate,  in  the  election  of 
Gen.  Jackson,  their  own  political  ascendancy — one  contending 
for  such  a  construction  of  the  Constitution  as  authorized  Con 
gress  to  protect  domestic  manufactures,  appropriate  money  for 
works  of  internal  improvement,  and,  generally,  to  regulate  and 
control  all  interests  strictly  national ;  the  other,  insisting  upon 
a  close,  precise,  narrow  construction,  which  gave  none  but 
express  powers,  left  nothing  to  inference  or  analogy.  Of  this 

latter  division,  the  acknowledged  head  was  Mr.  Crawford,  who 
5 


90  CHAPTER    IV. 

had  himself  been  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1824,  but 
in  1828  had  withdrawn  his  former  pretensions,  and  gone  in, 
with  all  his  friends,  personal  and  political, — the  most  distin 
guished  of  whom  was  Mr.  Yan  Buren, — in  unqualified  support 
of  Gen.  Jackson.  This  powerful  and  opportune  accession  had 
contributed  in  a  great  degree  to  the  singularly  rapid  augmen 
tation  of  the  General's  strength  in  the  latter  part  of  the  canvass. 

The  division  or  section  that  urged  a  liberal  construction  of 
the  Constitution,  was  at  least  as  strong,  from  the  position  and 
ability  of  its  leaders,  and  probably  more  so  in  the  number  of 
its  rank  and  file.  It  had,  beside,  all  the  weight  of  precedent 
in  its  favor.  It  was  a  historical  party.  Its  principles  and 
policy  had  become  firmly  rooted  in  the  public  mind,  from  the 
countenance  and  furtherance  they  had  met  with  from  the  two 
immediately  preceding  Administrations.  Works  of  internal 
improvement,  especially,  had  been  recommended  and  carried 
out  by  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Monroe  ;  and  his  policy  in 
this  respect,  as  in  most  others,  had  not  only  been  warmly  sup 
ported,  but  even  extended  by  his  immediate  successor. 

Between  these  conflicting  opinions  it  was  contended,  Gen. 
Jackson  would  be  compelled  to  decide  ;  and  it  was  predicted 
that  his  decision,  which  way  soever  it  leaned,  would  neces 
sarily  disturb,  if  it  did  not  completely  destroy,  the  harmony 
of  the  party. 

The  necessity,  however,  for  an  election  between  these  two 
principles  had  not  yet  arrived.  Gen.  Jackson  was  at  this 
time  sustained  by  a  united,  devoted  and  victorious  party  j  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  91 

nothing  had  occurred  thus  far  in  his  administration  to  dimmish 
the  attachment  or  weaken  the  confidence  of  the  people,  in  life 
person  and  character. 

On  his  accession,  it  seemed  to  be  generally  conceded  tha< 
he  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  re-election ;  and,  in  conse 
quence,  the  party  was  about  equally  divided  between  the  rival 
pretensions  of  Messrs.  Calhoun  and  Van  fiuren.  But  how 
ever  ardent  the  jealousy,  and  unremitting  the  watchfulness 
each  of  these  eminent  statesmen  maintained  towards  the  other, 
no  open  demonstration  of  hostility  affected  their  own  relations, 
or  disturbed  the  intimacy  of  their  mutual  friends.  Whatever 
there  was  of  dislike,  distrust,  and  growing  alienation  between 
them  was  studiously  concealed,  on  either  part,  from  the  public. 
Their  bearing  towards  each  other  seemed  candid,  even  cordial ; 
and  from  no  outward  indications  could  a  suspicion  of  an  ap 
proaching  rupture  be  conjectured. 

From  the  commencemeut  of  the  administration  up  to  the 
time  of  this  debate,  the  most  perfect  understanding  seemed  to 
subsist  between  its  distinguished  chief,  and  the  second  officer 
of  the  Government,  Mr.  Calhoun.  The  latter  had  done  the 
former  some  service,  and  was  supposed  at  this  time  to  have 
done  him  more.  In  the  Presidential  sweepstakes  of  1824,  he 
had  postponed  his  own  candidatecy,  and  had  aided,  by  his  per 
sonal  and  official  influence,  to  secure  for  the  General  the 
nomination  of  Pennsylvania  and  its  subsequent  vote.  In 
JS2G,  he  had  continued  and  redoubled  his  exertions.  He  also 
claimed,  through  }  s  friends,  to  have  defended,  in  Mr.  Mon- 


92  CHAPTER    IV. 

roe's  cabinet,  Gen.  Jackson's  conduct  in  the  Seminole  war, 
and  such  at  this  time  was  the  conviction  of  Gen.  Jackson 
himself;  who  thus  felt  called  upon  from  gratitude  as  well  as 
from  policy,  to  cultivate  a  close  intimacy  with  the  Vice  Presi 
dent. 

In  consequence  of  this  entente  cnrdiale,  Mr.  Calhoun's  parti  • 
sans  were  appointed  to  some  of  the  most  lucrative  and  respon 
sible  positions  in  the  Government.  Mr.  Ingham,  one  of  the 
most. devoted  to  his"  person  and  political  fortunes,  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  Treasury,  the  most  influential  office  in  the 
appointment  of  the  President.  While  no  persons  were  re 
ceived  at  the  White  House  with  warmer  cordiality  than  his 
nearest  friends.  Col.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  deservedly 
one  of  the  most  cherished  of  them,  was  a  frequent  attendant 
and  particular  favorite  there.  In  truth,  so  strict  and  confi 
dential  an  intimacy  prevailed  between  the  two  highest  officers 
of  the  Government  at  this  time,  that  persons  supposed  to  be 
in  the  possession  of  Gen.  Jackson's  confidence  have  not  hesi 
tated  since  to  declare,  that  but  for  the  quarrel  Van  Buren 
and  Forsyth  contrived  soon  after  to  get  up  between  them, 
Gen.  Jackson  would  have  embraced  the  political  principles 
and  furthered  the  aspirations  of  the  Vice  President.  Such 
indeed  was  then  the  common  expectation.  It  was  fated 
however  that  the  same  disturbing  element,  by  means  of  which 
Harley  and  St.  John  ejected  Godolphin  and  Maryborough 
from  the  councils  and  confidence  of  Queen  Anne,  should  be 
in  the  hands  of  men  equally  astute,  the  pn  miniate  cause  of  tho 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  93 

rupture  between  Callioun  and  Gen.  Jackson.  Dux  famina 
facti. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense  majority  of  the  suffrage,  with 
which  the  administration  had  come  into  power,  and  the  com 
plete  rout  its  opponents  had  sustained,  it  entertained  towards 
the  more  prominent  supporters  of  the  late  administration  a 
mingled  sentiment  of  vindictiveness  and  fear.  There  was  no 
thing  in  its  conduct  towards  them  of  the  forbearance  becom 
ing  a  victorious  and  magnanimous  party ;  on  the  contrary, 
their  total  annihilation  seemed  its  dearest  wish  and  only  safe 
assurance  of  permanent  establishment.  The  friends  of  the 
administration  thought  to  pursue  towards  their  chief  oppo 
nents  the  same  policy  Tarquinius  Superbus  dictated  to  his 
son,  who  had  gained  possession  by  unworthy  arts  of  an  impor 
tant  city :  to  cut  off  the  heads  of  the  most  noted  men  of  the 

• 

place,  that  there  might  be  no  rallying  names  for  the  multitude. 
Suppressing,  therefore,  for  the  time  all  inimical  purposes  to 
wards  each  other,  Calhoun-men  and  Van  Buren-men,  radicals 
and  conservatives,  nourished  a  common  dislike,  and  united  in 
acts  of  common  hostility,  against  the  chiefs  of  the  late  admin 
istration. 

Their  rancor  and  purpose  were  particularly  directed  against 
Mr.  Webster,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Anti-Jackson 
party  in  the  Senate,  whom  they  equally  feared  and  hated. 
He  had  sustained  the  measures  of  the  late  administration  with 
zeal,  energy,  and  efficiency ;  had  been  its  bulwark  against  all 
foes ;  and  it  had  leaned  upon  him  for  support.  During  tkp 


94  CHAPTER    IV. 

recent  canvass,  too,  he  had  been  most  active  in  Mr.  Adams' 
cause  j  and  by  the  warmth  and  vigor  of  his  political  action  had 
controlled  the  nearly  unanimous  vote  of  New  England  against 
Gen.  Jackson.  The  friends  of  the  administration  therefore 
could  gratify,  in  his  prostration,  at  once  their  animosity  and 
their  policy. 

Contemporaneous  authority  gives  encouragement  to  a  sus 
picion  that  previous  to  the  introduction  of  Foot's  resolutions 
respecting  the  public  lands,  it  had  been  determined  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Jackson  party  to  organize  a  crusade  against  Mr. 
Webster.  The  subsidized  presses  of  the  party  were  most 
violent  in  their  abuse  of  his  character,  his  history,  and  con 
duct.  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay  having  been  driven  into  re 
tirement,  there  remained,  in  the  ranks  of  the  opposition,  no 
one  but  Mr.  "Webster  of  sufficient  position,  to  embarrass  to  any 
great  extent  the  new  dynasty.  To  revolutionize  New  Eng 
land,  too,  was  a  purpose  they  meditated  and  avowed  ;  and, 
preparatory  to  its  accomplishment,  the  overthrow  of  Mr. 
Webster  seemed  necessary. 

Whether  such  a  conspiracy  was  ever  matured  or  not,  one 
fact  is  incontestible  ;  that  the  nearest  and  most  powerful 
friends  of  both  the  Vice  President  and  Secretary  of  State 
simultaneously  attacked  Mr.  Webster,  giving  by  the  act  to  the 
world  all  the  ordinary  evidence  of  preconcerted  purpose. 
Grundy  and  Livingston,  Woodbury  and  Benton,  Hayne, 
Rowan,  and  Forsyth,  all  participated  in  the  onslaught. 

It  was  a  combination  of  great  power,  from  the  character  and 


>  DANIEL    WEBSTER.  95 

position  of  the  parties  who  composed  it.     They  were  all  men 
of  ability  and  reputation.     Forsyth,  it  is  true,  took  no  open 
part  in  the  discussion.     He  was  none  the  less  felt  in  the  advice 
he  gave,  the  information  he  afforded,  and  in  the  general  direc 
tion  of  the  strategy  of  debate.     He  was  quick,  cool,  and  o 
infinite  resources. 

Grrundy  and  Livingston  leave  other  reputation  than  what 
they  achieved  in  this  debate.  It  is  fortunate  for  their  fame  it 
is  so.  For  though  the  part  they  performed  therein  was  not 
discreditable,  nor  even  undistinguished,  their  names  gained 
from  it  no  additional  lustre.  They  were  no  ordinary  antagonists 
in  a  dialectic  contest.  Their  talents  were  of  a  high  order. 
Both  had  gone  through  an  earnest  intellectual  training,  which, 
with  their  natural  capacity  for  affairs,  made  them  alike  admir 
able  in  speech  or  action.  Grundy  was,  of  all  the  Seriate, 
nearest  the  President ;  and  the  moral  prestige  of  this  relation 
gave  a  direction,  a  weight,  a  conclusion  to  his  words,  not 
rashly  to  be  overlooked.  He  was  prudent  of  speech,  and  gave 
no  offence,  either  by  inconsiderate  language  or  monotonous 
frequency,  in  his  Parliamentary  efforts.  It  is  true,  he  was 
rather  a  debater  than  an  orator,  and  more  specious  than  pro 
found.  But  he  knew  how  to  detect  and  expose  the  weak 
points  of  an  adverse  argument,  and  by  the  refutation  of  an 
other's  sophisms,  divert  attention  from  his  own.  There  was 
an  earnestness,  withal,  in  his  manner  and  countenance  that 
invited  attention  and  encouraged  belief. 

Livingston  had  a  double  claim  to  the  respect  of  the  Senate 


96  CHAPTER    IV. 

from  the  past  as  well  as  the  present.  In  earlier  days,  he  had 
been  the  representative — the  sole  representative — of  the  first 
commercial  city  in  the  Union,  and  was  now  a  Senator  from 
one  of  its  most  flourishing,  though  youngest  States.  In  both 
capacities  known  and  respected  as  an  honorable  man,  intelli 
gent  and  candid,  polished  in  language  and  manner,  and  of  un 
exceptionable  character.  He  had  seen  a  great  diversity  oi 
character,  of  age,  and  institutions,  and  knew  how  to  make  his 
experience  available,  whether  in  the  conduct  of  an  argument, 
or  in  the  establishment  of  a  policy.  Few  Senators  were  held 
in  greater  esteem.  He  attacked  no  one  ;  he  indulged  in  no  vitu 
perative  language.  He  opposed  or  defended  measures,  but  he 
never  questioned  motives,  nor  calumniated  persons.  In  his 
political  career,  while  he  never  was  guilty  of  a  partisan 
meanness,  he  had  on  more  than  one  occasion,  displayed  a  libe 
rality  of  opinion  and  conduct  seldom  recorded  of  politicians. 
He  had  advocated  the  Panama  Mission,  though  opposed  to  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Adams ;  an  exhibition  of  moral  courage 
that  found  few  to  praise  and  none  to  imitate  it  among  his  poli 
tical  associates.  His  reputation  as  a  man  of  honorable  bear 
ing,  cultivated  intellect,  and  full  experience  in  public  life, 
preceding  him  to  the  Senate,  gained  him  an  influence  there, 
which,  from  the  day  of  his  entrance,  had  daily  increased. 

Nothing  but  merit,  and  merit  of  the  highest  order,  could 
have  raised  Mr.  Woodbury  to  the  positions  he  has  occupied  in 
the  country.  Successively,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
his  native  State,  Senator  in  Congress,  Secretary  of  two  Depart- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  97 

ments,  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ; 
he  has  discharged  the  responsible  duties  of  all  these  offices,  if 
not  with  unequalled  ability,  most  certainly  with  far  more  than 
ordinary  capacity.  He  has  better  than  realized  the  promise 
of  his  earlier  days,  and  is  in  truth  one  of  the  rare  examples  o 
precocious  talent  confirmed  and  even  strengthened  in  maturcr 
age.  But  still  he  has  not — he  nwer  had — the  gift  of  elo 
quence.  It  is  not  his — it  never  was — to  rouse,  to  agitate,  to 
control  the  passions.  Never  on  any  one  occasion  of  his 
various  and  eminent- life,  at  the  bar,  the  hustings,  or  senate- 
chamber,  has  he  gained  full  mastery  of  the  heart ;  ever  pre 
vailed  upon  his  hearer  to  forget  for  one  moment  the  speaker 
in  his  subject.  His  mind  has  rather  a  logical  than  imaginative 
character  ;  has  been  more  employed  in  analysing  than  creat 
ing.  His  sensibility  has  ever  been  subject  to  his  reasoning 
faculties ;  and  he  has  been  compelled  by  the  absoluteness  of 
his  mental  organisation,  to  prefer  serious  argumentation,  and 
unfertilising  facts  to  fancy,  taste,  or  eloquence. 

Bent  on  discharged  all  sorts  of 'missiles  at  the  head  of  an 
adversary,  like  a  catapulta.  Tropes,  metaphors,  similes,  unsa 
vory  allusions,  vituperative  epithets,  damnatory  personalities, 
he  hurled  upon  the  victim  of  his  temporary  anger.  He 
neither  sought  nor  gave  quarter;  one  of  the  regular  Black 
Hussars  of  debate.  His  manner,  if  possible,  was  yet  more 
excited  than  his  language;  and  his  voice  more  belligerent  tha  a 
either.  His  whole  attitude  was  defiance,  and  each  gesture  a 

/  O 

provocation.     An  indifferent  auditor  might  suppose  from  the 


98  CHAPTER    IV. 

extravagance  of  his  manner  and  language  occasionally,  that 
he  -was  "running  a  muck."  Habet  fccnum  in  cornu,  was  at 
such  times  the  proper  solution  of  his  conduct. 

His  speech  was  as  often  extraordinary,  as  his  manner.  He 
brought  together  such  a  mass  of  crude^  undigested,  indigcsti 
ble  compilations,  overwhelming  the  subject-matter  in  its  acci 
dents,  so  much  useless  accumulation,  disjointed  and  inconse 
quent  facts,  impertinent  allusions,  and  loose  though  labored 
analogies,  one  could  not  but  imagine  that  he  had  made  a  foray 
into  the  territory  of  history,  and  seized  upon  booty,  of  which 
he  neither  knew  the  value,  nor  cared  for  the  destination. 

Too  often,  whatever  there  was  of  invincible  logic  in  his  de 
clamation,  was  lost  in  diffusive  speech,  in  useless  generalities, 
unconnected  episodes,  and  uncalled-for  personalities.  His 
egotism  at  this  time  was  almost  ferocious  ;  it  interpenetrated 
every  part  of  his  speech,  and  made  it  sometimes  absurd,  some 
times  farcical,  and  always  offensive.  But  whenever  for  a  time 
he  forgot  himself  in  his  subject,  and  became  wholly  absorbed 
in  its  consideration,  he  was  an  antagonist  not  to  be  despised. 
He  had  read  much,  he  had  observed  much,  he  had  hoarded 
much  ;  and  all  he  had  read,  observed,  or  hoarded  he  held  at  a 
moment's  command.  If  he  could  but  bring  his  facts  and  il 
lustrations  into  line,  so  as  to  bear  down  in  compact  array  upon 
the  enemy's  centre,  he  pierced  it  and  secured  victory.  But  it 
was  unfortunate  for  him  that  his  facts,  undisciplined  and  irre 
gular,  hung  back  upon  the  very  point  of  engagement,  and  re 
coiled,  like  elephants  in  Indian  armies,  upon  their  vwn  friends 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  99 

I  speak  of  him  as  lie  was,  Twenty  years  have  passed  since 
ttus  debate  took  place.  The  closer  study  of  mankind,  of 
books,  and  himself,  has  liberalized  his  temper,  chastened  his 
style,  and  subdued  his  manner.  He  commits  no  such  sole 
cisms  of  thought  or  conduct  as  formerly.  He  arrogates  less 
for  his  own  position  now,  concedes  more  to  his  opponents'. 
His  speech  is  less  discursive  and  more  argumentative  ;  it  neg 
lects  persons  and  embraces  propositions  ;  is  more  suggestive, 
logical,  and  final.  Still,  though  his  deportment  has  more 
suavity,  his  manner  more  amenity,  and  his  speech  less  person 
ality  than  of  old,  he  does  not  roar  you  now  as  gently  an  'twere 
any  nightingale.  He  is  Boanerges  still. 

On  this  occasion  he  headed  the  assault  upon  Mr.  Webster, 
or,  at  least,  upon  New  England.  And  it  is  not  improbable 
that  Mr.  Webster  had  him  in  view,  when  in  his  second  speech 
he  spoke  of  "  casting  the  characters  of  the  drama,  assigning  to 
each  his  part :  to  one  the  attack,  to  another  the  cry  of  onset." 
A  supposition  the  more  likely,  as  Mr.  Benton,  in  his  speech, 
justified  the  suspicion  that  an  onslaught  upon  New  England 
and  New  England  men,  had  been  premeditated  before  the  in 
troduction  of  this  debate. 

Rowan  had  some  knowledge  of  Constitutional  law,  and 
boasted  more.  His  distinctions,  however,  were  too  nice,  too 
refined,  too  sublimated  for  comprehension.  It  is  doubtful  if 
he  understood  his  own  propositions  ;  it  is  certain  none  others 
could.  His  language  was  all  esoteric  :  yet  if  he  foiled  in  con 
vincing  his  audience,  he  succeeded  in  puzzling  them  ;  which 


100 


CHAPTER    IV. 


was  a  half-victory,  like  the  battle  of  Fontenoy.  It  is  besides 
impossible  to  answer  what  it  is  impossible  to  understand  ;  so 
that,  like  the  cuttle-fish,  he  often  escaped  detection  in  a  dark 
ness  of  his  own  creation. 

His  argument  on  this  occasion  was  long  and  elaborate.  Su- 
damt  et  alsit,  to  make  it  impregnable.  It  was  mostly,  how 
ever,  tedious,  illogical,  inconsequent.  Still  there  were  fitful 
passages  in  it  of  indubitable  merit,  revealing  some  talent,  and 
suggestive  of  more. 

Hayne  dashed  into  debate,  like  the  Mameluke  cavalry  upon 
a  charge.  There  was  a  gallant  air  about  him,  that  could  not 
but  win  admiration.  He  never  provided  for  retreat ;  he  never 
imagined  it.  He  had  an  invincible  confidence  in  himself,  which 
arose  partly  from  constitutional  temperament,  partly  from  pre 
vious  success.  His  was  the  Napoleonic  warfare  ;  to  strike  at 
once  for  the  capitol  of  the  enemy,  heedless  of  danger  or  cost 
to  his  own  forces.  Not  doubting  to  overcome  all  odds,  he 
feared  none,  however  seemingly  superior.  Of  great  fluency 
and  no  little  force  of  expression,  his  speech  never  halted,  and 
seldom  fatigued. 

His  oratory  was  graceful  and  persuasive.  An  impassioned 
manner,  somewhat  vehement  as  times,  but  rarely  if  ever  ex 
travagant  ;  a  voice  well-modulated  and  clear ;  a  distinct, 
though  rapid  enunciation  5  a  confident,  but  not  often  offensive 
address ;  these,  accompanying  and  illustrating  language  well 
selected,  and  periods  well  turned,  made  him  a  popular  and 
effective  speaker. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  lUl 

His  forte  was,  still,  rather  declamation  than  argument :  of 
close,  severe  ratiocination,  which  rejects  everything  but  what 
leads  to  conviction,  he  knew  but  little.  He  had  never  mas 
tered  the  science  of  dialectics  ;  but  he  was  not  without  a  cer 
tain  kind  of  specious  logic,  which,  witt.tjie-  "rjujilti^iide  of  I>s> 
teners,  would  pass  for  current  coia.  It  Jjuui;  $kA*4o^»,^hfl. 
impress,  and  superficial  appearance  of  the  pure  metal :  but  it 
wanted  weight  on  examination,  and  had  no  genuine  ring  in  its 
sound. 

Col.  Hayne  was,  incontestibly,  the  most  formidable  of  Mr. 
"Webster's  opponents.  He  had  more  native  and  acquired 
ability  than  any  of  them.  Such  is  the  concurrent  opinion  of 
all  who  witnessed  this  great  forensic  contest ;  among  others,  of 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Everett,  of  Massachusetts  ;  who  is  himself  no 
less  distinguished  as  an  orator,  than  for  diplomatic  ability  and 
general  acquirements.  "  It  is  unnecessary  to  state,"  says  he, 
"  except  to  those  who  have  come  forward  quite  recently,  that  Col. 
Hayne  was  a  gentleman  of  ability  very  far  above  the  average, 
a  highly  accomplished  debater,  an  experienced  politician,  a 
person  possessing  the  full  confidence  of  his  friends,  and  en 
tirely  familiar  with  the  argument  on  which  the  theory  con 
troverted  in  Mr.  "Webster's  speech  rests." 

The  Senate  was  prepared  to  receive  him  favorably.  He  had 
been  distinguished  in  the  politics  of  his  own  State,  and  sanguine 
anticipations  were  indulged  in  by  his  friends  of  his  great  suc 
cess  when  transferred  to  a  larger  sphere  of  action.  Before  his 
speeches  in  this  great  controversy,  he  had  occasionally  addressed 


102  CHAPTER    IV. 

the  Senate,  and  displayed  qualities  of  mind  which  seemed  to 
justify  all  previous  encomiums.  He  was,  too,  personally 
popular  ;  an  advantage  of  no  inconsiderable  nature  in  whatever 
contest  or  undertaking  a  man  is  engaged  with  his  fellows.  His 
consciousness  «£.«  the^favor  with  which  everything  he  says  or 
doev  is,  re'eehred,  gives  him  a  confidence  and  an  energy  which 
stimulate  to  great  words  or  deeds. 

Col.  Hayne  deserved  his  popularity.  He  had  a  courteous 
and  frank  address,  conciliatory  manners  and  deportment.  He 
was  high-minded  and  sincere ;  easy  and  agreeable  in  conver 
sation  ;  of  great  vivacity  of  intellect,  and  mercurial  talent. 

Such  was  the  formidable  character  of  the  combination  Mr. 
Webster  found  himself  compelled  by  circumstances  to  meet. 
Never  before,  in  Parliaiiientary  annals,  did  one  man  encounter 
such  fearful  odds.  The  instance  most  like  it,  when  Pulteney, 
and  Pitt,  and  Littleton  and  Chesterfield,  with  others  less  dis 
tinguished,  united  in  a  simultaneous  attack  upon  Walpole, 
differs  in  one  important  respect :  Walpole  had  official  position, 
the  king's  name,  and  a  majority  of  the  Commons  in  his  favor 
— advantages  that  held  him  up  even  against  intellectual  supe 
riority.  Mr.  Webster  had  nothing  but  himself  to  rely  upon, 
with  an  equally  powerful  array  against  him.  But  both  were 
intellectual  combats,  which,  from  the  character  of  the  actors 
and  the  various  and  momentous  interests  involved  therein, 
have  never  been  surpassed  in  any  country  or  age. 

To  publish  all  the  speeches  of  this  great  debate  would  re 
quire  volumes.  Still  the  debate  itself  would  be  hardly  appre- 


•    DANIEL     WEBSTER.  103 

elated  but  from  reference  to  the  actors  in  it.  The  drama 
could  not  be  complete,  with  even  the  subordinate  parts  left 
out :  there  was  no  such  insignificant  character  in  it  but  aided 
in  some  way  the  denouement. 

The  debate  itself  is  a  complete  epic  ;  only  instead  of  wars 
and  combatants,  we  have  argument  and  orators  It  is  not  a 
vulgar  exhibition  of  brute  strength — a  gladiatorial  or  pugilistic 
encounter  ;  but  an  intellectual  struggle — the  collison  of  mind 
with  mind — the  development  of  all  the  highest  intelligence  in 
man.  The  principles  and  truths  evolved  from  its  consider 
ation  will  endure  with  the  country  for  which  they  were  intended, 
exalting  its  character  and  ennobling  its  destiny. 

There  were  others  of  the  Senate,  less  prominent  before 
the  public,  of  the  dominant  party,  equally  active  in  their 
exertions  on  this  occasion  :  some  of  whom  served  as  videttes, 
being  thrown  out  in  advance  to  gain  and  supply  information 
respecting  the  enemy,  and  falling  back  upon  the  main  body 
*b<?n  battle  joined  If  the  parts  they  performed  were  less 
distinguished  than  those  of  the  persons  enumerated,  they 
seemed  as  necessary  to  success.  Hardly  a  Senator  of  the 
dominant  party  but  performed  some  duty  on  the  occasion. 

It  is  besides  to  be  considered  that  the  whole  moral  influence 
of  the  administration  was  directed  against  Mr.  Webster.  This1, 
powerful  at  all  times,  was  doubly  so  now.  The  iron  will  of 
Gen.  Jackson  subdued  all  minds  to  his  :  it  penetrated  and 
controlled  every  member  of  his  administration  or  party,  from 


104  CHAPTER    IV.       * 

the  highest  to  the  lowest.  There  is  a  species  of  fascination  in 
a  severe,  inflexible  will,  that  few  have  the  moral  energy  to  re 
sist.  It  seems  to  partake  of  the  character  of  destiny,  in  the 
certain  accomplishment  of  its  purpose.  It  paralyses  weaker 
minds,  and  makes  them  the  puppets  of  its  action. 

The  one  idea  of  Gen.  Jackson's  administration  was  devotion 
to  himself.  He  allowed  every  variety  of  opinion  and  all  free 
dom  of  conduct  consistent  with  this.  He  forgave  all  moral 
obliquities  with  plenary  absolution.  There  was  with  him  but 
one  unpardonable  sin  :  it  was  resistance  to  his  will. 

He  united  in  himself  the  whole  force  of  his  party  He  was 
the  Democratic  party,  as  Louis  XIY.  was  "  the  State." 
When  he  came  into  power,  Democracy  had  local  significa 
tions  ;  in  one  place  it  meant  tariff,  in  another  free  trade ; — 
sometimes,  "  internal  improvement,"  and  sometimes,  "  strict 
construction."  He  gave  it  a  definite  name  and  character, 
which  was  not  one  in  Georgia  and  another  in  Maine,  but  the 
same  everywhere,  of  equal  meaning  and  potency.  The 
u  Democratic"  was  lost  in  the  JACKSON  party. 

He  gave  it  unity,  consistency,  and  rigor  of  action.  Ho 
could  concentrate  it  upon  one  point,  with  one  will.  No  one 
ever  had  round  him  more  devoted  followers — for  though  harsh 
to  his  enemies,  he  was  always  true  to  his  friends.  He  would 
exert  his  whole  power,  outstrip  all  constitutional  restrictions 
to  gratify  a  friend.  And  this  was  the  great  secret  of  his 
power.  His  fidelity  to  friendship  passed  into  proverb,  and 
gained  him  the  great  heart  of  the  nation. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  105 

What  could  not  such  a  man  at  the  head  of  such  a  party 
accomplish  of  good  or  evil  ?  It  is  true,  that  so  early  in  his 
administration,  as  the  time  now  written  of,  he  had  not  ob 
tained  the  fearful  ascendancy  in  the  country  or  in  Congress, 
as  at  a  later  period.  But  even  now  the  influence  of  hig 
character  was  deeply  felt ;  and  had  he  chosen  to  put  forth 
his  whole  strength  in  any  one  direction,  the  result  at  least 
might  long  have  remained  doubtful. 

But  it  is  due  the  memory  of  this  distinguished  patriot,  sol 
dier,  and  statesman  to  say,  that  he  never  entertained  towards 
Mr.  "Webster  any  of  that  vehemence  of  personal  bitterness, 
which  he  sometimes  exhibited  towards  his  opponents.  He 
was  of  too  magnanimous  character  to  hate  a  magnanimous 
foe.  Mr.  Webster  never  flattered,  deceived,  or  abused  him ; 
never  opposed  his  measures,  but  in  an  honorable  manner,  and 
with  respectful  language.  In  the  campaign  that  had  just 
terminated,  Mr.  Webster,  in  warmly  supporting  the  cause  of 
his  rival,  was  careful  to  use  no  harsh  language  of  him,  or  his 
pretensions :  on  the  contrary,  upon  more  than  one  occasion, 
when  circumstances  seemed  to  require  the  mention  of  his  name, 
had  spoken,  in  terms  of  fit  encomium,  of  his  distinguished  mili 
tary  services.  The  General,  who  never  forgot  a  favor  or  an 
injury,  and  who  was  as  ready  to  acknowledge  courtesy  as  to 
avenge  insult,  nursed,  therefore,  no  feeling  of  personal  unkind- 
ness  for  Mr.  Webster ;  and  the  intercourse  between  these  two 
eminent  men  at  this  time  though  not  intimate  nor  cordial 


106  CHAPTER    IV 

was  not  unfriendly.     Ge1"1    Jackson  tolerated,  it  may  be,  but 
did  not  second  the  attack  up^a  Mr.  Webster. 

Still  the  Alliance  used  his  name ;  which  was  "  a  tower  of 
strength"  to  them.  It  whipped  in  the  refractory,  confirmed 
the  wavering,  and  terrified  the  timid. 


CHAPTER    V. 

On  the  29th  day  of  December,  1829,  Mr  Foote  of  Conn. 
offered,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  following  reso 
lution  : 

"  Resolved,  that  the  Committee  onTublic  Lands  be  instructed 
to  enquire  into  the  expediency  of  limiting  for  a  certain  period 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  such  lands  only,  as  have  been 
heretofore  offered  for  sale,  and  are  subject  to  entry  at  the 
minimum  price.  Also,  whether  the  office  of  Surveyor  General 
may  not  be  abolished  without  detriment  to  the  public  interest." 

Some  skirmishing  immediately  occurred  on  the  introduction 
of  the  resolution  between  Benton,  Noble,  Woodbury,  Holmes, 
and  Foote ;  but  no  one  imagined  it  was  soon  to  be  followed  by 
a  regular  engagement.  A  motion  being  made  and  carried  to 
postpone  the  consideration  of  the  resolution  till  the  next  Mon 
day,  the  excitement  for  the  time  subsided. 

When  the  resolution  on  the  day  specified  came  up  for  dis 
cussion,  Mr-.  Foote  remarked  that  in  twelve  years'  experience 
in  legislative  assemblies,  it  was  not  within  his  recollection  that 
a  resolution  merely  for  enquiry  had  been  made  a  special  order. 
As  he  could  not  discover  any  benefit  which  could  possibly 


108  CHAPTER    V. 

arise  from  introducing  this  practice,  he  should  decline  giving 
it  his  sanction,  by  taking  the  lead  in  the  debate. 

Some  insignificant  discussion  hereupon  having  taken  place 
among  Senators,  the  resolution  passed  over  for  the  day. 

When  it  next  came  up  for  consideration  on  Monday  the 
38th,  Mr.  Benton  took  the  floor  and  made  a  speech  bearing 
evident  indications  of  study  and  preparation.  In  the  course 
of  his  remarks,  he  made  a  violent  a.  tack  upon  New  England, 
its  men  and  institutions.  H>  denounced  the  policy  of  New 
England  towards  the  West  as  illiberal  and  unjust — but  ex 
tolled  the  generosity  of  the  South.  "  The  West  must  still 
look,"  he  said,  "  to  the  solid  phalanx  of  the  South  for 
succor." 

The  whole  character  of  the  speech  revealed  a  previous  in 
tention  to  attack  New  England ;  and,  in  one  he  made  subse 
quent  to  this,  he  asserted  that  he  had  been  informed,'  during 
the  vacation,  of  a  design  to  introduce  such  a  resolution,  and 
declared  his  determination  to  meet  it.  It  was  brought  in, 
he  said,  to  forestall  his  own  purpose.  "  It  was  introduced  to 
check-mate  my  graduation  bill !  It  was  an  offer  of  battle  to 
the  West !  /  accepted  the  offer  ;  J  am  fighting  the  battle  ; 
some  are  crying  out  and  hauling  off ;  but  /  am  standing  to  it, 
and  mean  to  stand  to  it.  I  call  upon  the  adversary  to  come 
on  and  lay  on,  and  I  tell  him — 

"Damned  be  he;  that  first  cries  hold,  enough  !'; 
Thi«  sentiment  and  the  style  of  its  utterance,  arc  severely 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  109 

Bentonian.  A  harmless  resolution  of  inquiry  respecting  a 
measure  of  public  policy  was  converted,  in  the  alembic  of  his 
egotism,  into  a  studied  attack  upon  himself,  or,  it  may  be,  he 
sought  to  make  another  seem  the  aggressor,  in  order  to  cover 
his  own  hostile  intent. 

He  was  followed  by  Col.  Hayne,  who,  after  returning  his 
complimentary  salute,  u  The  South  would  always  sympathize 
with  the  West,"  poured  also  a  broadside  into  New  England. 

He  placed  in  unpleasant  contrast  to  the  conduct  of  the 
South,  the  action  of  the  Eastern  States  upon  the  question  of 
the  public  lands,  which  he  characterized  as  selfish  and  unprin 
cipled.  The  East  was  unwilling — he  said — that  the  public 
lands  should  be  thrown  open  on  easy  terms  to  settlers,  for  fear 
of  its  being  drained  of  population.  It  sought  to  retain  its 
population  at  home  for  manufacturing  purposes  "  To  create 
a  manufactory  of  paupers,  who  should  supply  the  manufacto 
ries  of  rich  proprietors,  and  enable  them  to  amass  great 
wealth." 

The  suddenness  of  this  attack  upon  New  England,  its 
warmth,  and  evident  malice,  took  Mr.  Webster  by  surprise. 
He  could  not  but  feel  that  the  onslaught  upon  the  East  was 
intended  as  a  personal  attack.  Yet  he  was  conscious  of  hav 
ing  given  no  provocation  to  either  of  the  aggressors.  He  had 
neither  sought  nor  accepted  an  opportunity  to  annoy  them 

He  was  not  even  aware  of  Mr.  Foote's  intention  to  introduce 
any  such  resolution ;  but  yet  he  could  see  no  harm  in  its 
terms  or  purpose,  nor  impropriety  in  its  introduction.  His 


110  CHAPTER    V. 

relations  with  the  two  Senators,  though  not  intimate,  were  no* 
hostile.  He  had  neither  given  nor  taken  offence.  It  has  in 
deed  been  said,  that  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  session. 
Colonel  Hayne  had  made  a  wanton  and  somewhat  intemperate 
ttack  upon  his  opinions  and  conduct,  which  would  have 
elicited  a  suitable  reply,  but  for  the  interposition  and  entrea 
ties  of  the  Hon.  John  Reed  and  other  members  from  Massa 
chusetts,  who  feared  a  controversy  between  them  at  that  time 
would  endanger  the  satisfactory  adjustment  of  some  Massa 
chusetts  claim  then  on  its  passage  though  the  Senate.  Yield 
ing  to  their  solicitations,  Mr.  Webster  discarded  all  resentful 
feeling  and  withheld  a  reply.  To  this,  or  some  similar  circum 
stance,  he  may  be  supposed  to  allude  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
great  speech,  when  speaking  of  Colonel  Hayne's  assault  upon 
him.  "  Some  passages,  it  is  true,  had  occurred  since  our  ac 
quaintance  in  this  body,  which  I  could  have  wished  might 
have  been  otherwise  ;  but  I  had  used  philosophy  and  forgotten 
them."  With  Mr.  Benton  he  .had  never  been  on  terms  of 
social  or  personal  intimacy,  yet  bore  towards  him  a  relation  of 
senatorial  courtesy. 

As  soon  as  Colonel  Hayne  concluded  his  speech,  Mr. 
Webster  took  the  floor  in  reply.  It  was  late,  however,  in  the 
day,  and  he  gave  way  on  a  motion  from  Mr.  Benton  to  adjourn. 
In  making  the  motion,  Mr.  Benton  said  he  was  unwilling  that 
the  harmony  of  the  sounds  which  had  just  pervaded  the 
Senate-chamber,  and  which  still  lingered  upon  the  delighted 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  Ill 

tympanum  of  Senators,  should  be  broken  in  upon  by  aught 
discordant. 

\J  The  next  day  Mr.  "Webster  replied  to  the  speech  of  Colonel 
Hayne.  The  growing  interest  of  the  controversy  attracted  a 
more  than  usual  crowd  to  the  Senate.  It  appeared  evident 
to  every  one,  a  drama  of  some  importance  was  going  on. 

Mr.  Webster  defended  the  conduct  of  the  Eastern  States 
towards  the  West  as  regarded  the  question  of  the  public 
lands,  and  disproved,  by  historical  analysis,  the  accusation  of 
neglect  or  hostility  on  their  part.  All  that  he  said  in  this 
speech  on  the  public  lands,  forms  an  admirable  state  paper 
He  had  evidently  carried  the  subject  before  in  his  mind.  Al 
luding  to  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  action  of  the  general 
government  upon  the  settlement  of  Ohio,  and  in  the  develop 
ment  of  its  vast  natural  resources,  an  action  which  he  showed  had 
been  stimulated  and  directed  by  New  England  votes — he  said, 
comparing  the  Ohio  of  1794  with  the  Ohio  of  1830:  "And 
here,  sir,  at  the  epoch  of  ]  794,  let  us  pause  and  survey  the 
scene.  It  is  now  thirty-five  years  since  that  scene  actually  ex 
isted.  Let  us,  sir,  look  back  and  behold  it.  Over  all  that  is 
now  Ohio,,  there  then  stretched  one  vast  wilderness,  unbroken, 
except  by  two  small  spots  of  civilized  culture,  the  one  at  Ma 
rietta,  the  other  at  Cincinnati.  At  these  little  openings, 
hardly  a  pin's  point  upon  the  map,  the  arm  of  the  frontiers 
man  had  levelled  the  forest  and  let  in  the  sun.  These  little 
patches  of  earth,  themselves  almost  shadowed  by  the  over 
hanging  boughs  of  that  wilderness,  which  had  stood  and  per- 


112  CHAPTER    V. 

petuated  itself,  from  century  to  century,  ever  since  the  Crea 
tion,  were  all  that  had  been  rendered  verdant  by  the  hand  cf 
man.  In  an  extent  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  square  milef , 
no  other  surface  of  smiling  green  attested  the  presence  cf 
civilization.  The  hunter's  path  crossed  mighty  rivers,  flowing 
in  solitary  grandeur,  whose  sources  lay  in  remote  and  unknown 
regions  of  the  wilderness.  It  struck  upon  the  North,  on  ;i 
vast  inland  sea,  over  which  the  wintry  tempests  raged  as  on 
the  ocean  ;  all  around  was  bare  creation.  It  was  a  fresh,  un 
touched,  unbounded,  magnificent  wilderness  !  And,  sir,  wha:; 
is  it  now?  Is  it  imagination  only,  or  can  it  possibly  be  fact, 
that  presents  such  a  change  as  surprises  and  astonishes  us, 
when  we  turn  our  eyes  to  what  Ohio  now  is  ?  Is  it  reality  or 
a  dream,  that  in  so  short  a  period  as  even  thirty-five  years, 
there  has  sprung  up  on  the  same  surface  an  independent 
State,  with  a  million  of  people  ?  A  million  of  inhabitants  ! 
Ah  amount  of  population  greater  than  all  the  Cantons  of 
Switzerland ;  equal  to  one-third  of  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States  when  they  undertook  to  accomplish  their  independence. 
If,  sir,  we  may  judge  of  measures  by  their  results,  what 
lessons  do  these  facts  read  us  upon  the  policy  of  the  govern 
ment  ?  what  inferences  do  they  not  authorise  upon  the  general 
question  of  kindness  or  unkindness?  what  convictions  do 
they  enforce,  as  to  the  wisdom  and  ability,  on  the  one  hand, 
or  the  folly  and  incapacity  on  the  other,  of  our  general 
management  of  Western  affairs  ?  For  my  own  part,  while  I 
am  struck  with  wonder  at  the  success,  I  also  look  with  admi- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  113 

ration  at  the  wisdom  and  foresight  which  originally  arranged 
and  prescribed  the  system  for  the  settlement  of  the  public 
domain." 

In  relation  to  the  comparative  aid -afforded  by  the  East  and 
South  to  the  settlement  of  the  West,  Mr.  Webster  said  :  **  I 
undertake  to  say,  sir,  that  if  you  look  to  the  votes  on  any  one 
of  these  measures,  and  strike  out  from  the  list  of  ayes  the 
names  of  New  England  members,  it  will  be  found  that  in  every 
case  the  South  would  then  have  voted  down  the  West,  and  the 
measure  would  have  failed." 

In  conclusion  Mr.  Webster  said :  "  The  Senate  will  bear 
me  witness  that  I  am  not  accustomed  to  allude  to  local  opin 
ions,  nor  to  compare  nor  contrast  different  portions  of  the  coun 
try.  I  have  often  suffered  things  to  pass  which  I  might  pro 
perly  enough  have  considered  as  deserving  a  remark,  without 
any  observation.  But  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  on  this  occasion, 
to  vindicate  the  State  which  I  represent  from  charges  and  im 
putations  on  her  public  character  and  conduct,  which  I  know 
to  be  undeserved  and  unfounded.  If  advanced  elsewhere,  they 
might  be  passed,  perhaps,  without  notice.  But  whatever  is 
said  here  is  supposed  to  be  entitled  to  public  regard,  and  to 
deserve  public  attention ;  it  derives  importance  and  dignity 
from  the  place  where  it  is  uttered.  As  a  true  representative 
of  the  State  which  has  sent  me  here,  it  is  my  duty,  and  a  duty 
which  I  shall  fulfil,  to  place  her  history  and  her  conduct,  her 
honor  and  her  character,  in  thsir  just  and  proper  light. 

"  While  I  stand  here  as  representative  of  Massachusetts,  I 


114  CHAPTER    V. 

will  be  her  true  representative,  and  by  the  blessing  of  God,  I 
will  vindicate  her  character,  motives,  and  history,  from  every 
imputation,  coming  from  a  respectable  source.'' 

If  Mr.  Webster  betrayed  in  this  speech  an  unusual  warmth 
of  manner  and  language,  his  sufficient  apology  is  the  provoca 
tion  he  had  received.  New  England, — and  more  particularly 
Massachusetts,  his  foster-mother, — had  been  gratuitously  as 
sailed,  and,  as  he  could  not  but  believe,  with  direct  reference 
to  himself.  He  had  been  struck  at  where  his  sensibilities  were 
deepest  and  keenest — in  his  love  of  home  ; — and  had  he  re 
mained  silent  or  even  contented  himself  with  simply  repelling 
the  attack,  his  constituency  and  the  world  would  have  pro 
nounced  him  craven.  This  was  not  besides  the  sole  provoca 
tion  he  had  received  ;  this  was  not  the  solitary  occasion  on 
which  his  temper  had  been  sorely  tried.  The  dominant  party 
in  the  Senate,  mad  with  its  excessive  victory,  had  previously 
teazed  and  goaded  him.  He  had  borne  much, — some  thought 
too  much, — with  "a  patient  shrug."  The  time  had  come 
when,  in  more  than  his  own  opinion,  he  should  take  the  field  in 
earnest. 

On  Tuesday,  January  Ust, — the  day  after  Mr.  Webster's 
speech, — the  Senate  resumed  again  the  consideration  of  Mr. 
Foote's  resolution. 

Before  the  debate  recommenced,  Mr.  Chambers,  of  Md., 
rose  and  expressed  a  hope  that  the  Senate  would  consent  to 
postpone  further  consideration  of  the  resolution  till  the  Mon 
day  following,  as  Mr.  Webster  who  had  taken  part  in  it  anil 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  115 

wished  to  be  present  at  its  continued  discussion  had  unavoida 
ble  engagements  elsewhere. 

There  was  a  case  of  some  importance  on  argument  before 
the  Supreme  Court  in  which  Mr.  Webster  was  retained  a: 
counsel.  Compelled  to  watch  its  progress,  for  he  knew  not  at 
what  moment  he  might  be  called  upon  to  address  the  Bench 
he  had  not  been  able  to  command  more  than  an  occasional 
presence  in  the  Senate.  He  was  not  present  when  the  resolu 
tion  was  introduced,  nor  more  than  a  fractional  portion  of  the 
tune  while  Mr.  Benton  spoke. 

The  request  was  denied  him.  Col.  Hayne  rose  in  evident 
agitation,  and  insisted  that  the  debate  should  go  on  without 
postponement.  He  said  with  some  superciliousness  of  man 
ner  and  with  an  angry  intonation  of  voice,  that  he  saw  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  in  his  seat ;  and  presumed,  if 
he  really  desired  it,  he  could  make  an  arrangement  which 
would  enable  him  to  be  present  at  the  discussion  that  day. 
He  would  not  consent  that  the  subject  should  be  postponed, 
until  he  had  had  an  opportunity  of  replying  to  some  of  the  ob 
servations  which  had  fallen  from  the  gentleman  the  day  before. 
Putting  his  hand  to  his  heart,  he  said,  "  he  had  something 
there,  which  he  wished  to  get  rid  of.  The  gentleman  had  dis 
charged  his  fire  in  the  face  of  the  Senate  ;  and  he  demanded  an 
opportunity  of  returning  the  shot." 

"  Then  it  was" — to  use  the  words  of  a  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  Congress  from  a  Southern  State  who  was  present  on 
the  occasion — u  that  Mr.  Webster's  person  seemed  tc  become 


116 


CHAPTER    V. 


taller  and  larger.  His  chest  expanded,  and  his  eyeballs  dilat 
ed.  Folding  his  arms  in  a  composed,  firm,  and  most  expres 
sive  manner,  he  exclaimed :  l  Let  the  discussion  proceed.  I 
am  ready.  I  am  ready  now  to  receive  the  gentleman's  fire.' 
Oh,  my  dear  sir,  I  wish  I  could  convey  to  you  even  some  faint 
idea  of  the  true  grandeur  that  then  marked  his  manner  and 
countenance." 

Mr.  Benton,  who  had  gained  the  floor  the  day  previous  on 
the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Webster's  remarks,  then  rose  and  ad 
dressed  the  Senate  for  an  hour.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the 
speech,  he  undertook  to  remove  all  pretension  of  Nathan  Dane 
to  the  authorship  of  the  Ordinance  of  '87,  which  he  claimed 
for  Thomas  Jefferson.  Speaking  as  if  he  had  accomplished 
the  undertaking,  beyond  the  possibility  of  denial,  he  said: 
"  But  yesterday  the  name  of  Nathan  Dane,  of  Beverly,  Massa 
chusetts,  hung  in  equipoise  against  half  the  names  of  the  sages 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  Poetry  and  eloquence  were  at  work  to 
blazon  his  fame  ;  marble  and  brass,  and  history  and  song,  were 
waiting  to  perform  their  oifice.  The  celestial  honors  of  the 
apotheosis  seemed  to  be  only  deferred  for  the  melancholy 
event  of  the  sepulchre.  To-day,  all  this  superstructure  of 
honors,  human  and  divine,  disappears  from  the  earth.  The 
foundation  of  the  edifice  is  sapped ;  and  the  superhuman 
glories  of  him,  who,  twenty-four  hours  ago,  was  taking  his  sta 
tion  among  the  demi-gods  of  antiquity,  have  dispersed  and 
dissipated  into  thin  air — vanishing  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a 
vision,  which  leaves  not  a  wreck  behind." 


DANIEL    VVEBSTFCK.  117 

Apart  from  the  egotism,  somewhat  atrocious  of  the  speech, 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  merit  in  it.     It  displayed  no  little  in 
genuity  of  argument,  and  much  power  of  invective,  with  some 
considerable  amount  of  political  and  miscellaneous  learning ; 
the  latter  all  poured  out,  however,  in  one  turbid  gush. 

The  debate  had  by  this  time  assumed  a  character  that  left 
no  doubt  of  the  intention  of  its  promoters.  To  disinterested 
persons  who  had  been  thus  far  present  in  the  discussion,  no 
thing  seemed  now  more  evident  than  a  determined  purpose  on 
the  part  of  the  majority  to  crush  Mr.  Webster.  Out  of  the 
Senate,  his  approaching  and  inevitable  discomfiture  was  among 
the  friends  of  the  Administration  the  prominent  and  most 
agreeable  topic  of  conversation  ;  in  their  opinion  his  doom  was 
certain  ;  for  he  was  not  only  to  be  assailed  by  the  ordinary 
force  of  the  party,  but  was  fated  to  encounter  the  irresistible 
attack  of  the  great  statesman  and  orator,  Gen.  HAYNE,  of 
South  Carolina — the  very  Achilles  of  the  South  ;  unlike  Ho 
mer's  hero,  however,  vulnerable  nowhere  !  Benton  complain 
ed  in  the  open  Senate  that  there  would  be  nothing  left  for  him 
to  do ;  while  Howan  and  those  near  him  congratulated  them 
selves  that  they  too  at  least  would  be  "  in  at  the  death." 

The  warm  blood  of  Col.  Hayne  could  not  brook  the  post 
ponement  of  vengeance.  He  besought  his  friend  from  Mis 
souri  to  yield  the  floor,  while  he  replied  to  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts.  Mr.  Benton  gave  a  cheerful  assent ;  but  be 
fore  Col.  Hayne  commenced,  Mr  Bell,  of  New  Hampshire, 


118  CHAPTER    V. 

made  another  motion  to  adjourn  till  the  Monday  following. 
This  motion  was  lost  Iby  a  strict  party  vote. 

Col  Hayne  then  rose  and  entered  upon  his  speech.  His 
exordium  was  respectable  in  point  of  ability,  and  gave  assu 
rance  of  a  well -prepared  speech.  Every  one  must  judge  of  it  for 
himself.  The  high  estimate  that  had  previously  been  formed 
of  his  talents  and  character  disposed  the  Senate  and  audience 
to  listen  attentively ;  and  there  was  much  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  speech  particularly  to  confirm  the  common  opinion 
of  his  abilities  and  to  command  attention. 

.As  he  proceeded,  his  tone  and  language  became  more  ve 
hement  :  his  allusions  more  personal.  There  was  an  angry 
inflection  in  his  voice,  indicative  of  loss  of  temper.  His  bear 
ing  betrayed  a  good  deal  of  self-confidence,  at  times  almost 
arrogance.  He  seemed  certain  of  victory,  and  only  doubtful 
how  much  of  his  strength  he  should  put  forth.  Violent  as  were 
his  personalities,  and  bitter  his  invective,  they  were  less  in 
tolerable  yet  than  the  insolence  of  his  charity ;  for  he  seemed 
to  arrest  ever  and  anon  "  the  thunder  in  mid  volley,"  not  to 
annihilate  all  at  once  his  inevitable  victim. 

Sympathizing  and  exulting  friends  surrounded  him,  from 
whose  countenances  he  read  the  apparent  success  of  his 
philippic.  They  urged  him  on  with  looks  and  encouraging 
words.  The  eye  of  the  Vice-President,  which,  alone  of  his 
features,  ever  indicated  an  emotion,  shone  approvingly.  Nor 
did  he  confine  his  assistance  to  a  glance  of  approbation.  Con 
stantly  during  the  progress  of  the  discussion,  he  sent  notes, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  119 

suggestive,  illustrative  and  advisatory  to  the  orator,  by  one  of 
the  pages  of  the  Senate. 

Col.  Hayne  had  other  advisers  and  other  contributors  in  and 
out  of  the  Senate,  who  supplied  him  with  all  the  damnatory 
paragraphs  the  press  had  ever  thrown  out,  in  its  moments  o* 
greatest  excitement  against  New  England,  Mr.  "Webster,  or 
his  friends.  They  lie  piled  upon  the  orator's  desk — Pelion 
upon  Ossa — "  an  ass's  load." 

In  speaking  afterwards  of  such  attempts  to  injure  him,  Mr. 
Webster  said :  "  The  journals  were  all  pored  over,  and  the 
reports  ransacked,  and  scraps  of  paragraphs  and  half  sentences 
were  collected,  put  together  in  the  falsest  manner,  and  then 
made  to  flare  out  as  if  there  had  been  some  discovery.  But 
all  this  failed.  The  next  resort  was  to  supposed  correspond 
ence.  My  letters  were  sought  for,  to  learn,  if,  in  the  confidence 
of  private  friendship,  I  had  never  said  anything  which  an 
enemy  could  make  use  of.  With  this  view,  the  vicinity  of  my 
former  residence  was  searched,  as  with  a  lighted  candle.  New 
Hampshire  was  explored  from  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack 
to  the  White  Hills." 

Who  of  Mr.  Webster's  political  opponents  in  or  out  of  the 
Senate  acted  as  "  scavengers"  on  this  occasion,  it  were"  un 
necessary,  if  it  were  possible,  to  mention.  They  were  fully 
punished  in  the  failure  of  their  unmanly  efforts.  The  greatest, 
perhaps  the  only  punishment,  the  unprincipled  inachinator 
feels,  is  a  sense  of  useless  rascality. 

Col.  Hayne  spoke  this  day,  Thursday,  January  21st,  a  little 


120  CHAPTER    V. 

more  than  an  hour.  The  Senate  then  adjourned  over  til] 
Monday  following.  To  give  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
fair  warning  of  the  fate  that  awaited  him,  Col.  Hayne,  on  the 
conclusion  of  this  day's  remarks,  spoke  as  follows  :  "  Sir,  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  has  thought  proper  for  pur 
poses  best  known  to  himself,  to  strike  the  South  through  me  ; 
the  most  unworthy  of  her  servants.  He  has  crossed  the  bor 
der,  he  has  invaded  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  is  making 
war  upon  her  citizens,  and  endeavoring  to  overthrow  her  prin 
ciples  and  her  institutions.  Sir,  when  the  gentleman  provokes 
me  to  such  a  conflict,  I  meet  him  at  the  threshold — I  will 
struggle,  while  I  have  life,  for  our  altars  and  our  firesides,  and 
if  God  gives  me  strength,  I  will  drive  ba^k  the  invader  dis 
comfited.  Nor  shall  I  stop  there.  If  the  gentleman  provokes 
war,  he  shall  have  war.  Sir,  I  will  not  stop  at  the  border  ;  I 
will  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  territory,  and  not  consent 
to  lay  down  my  arms,  until  I  shall  have  obtained  c  indemnity 
for  the  past,  and  security  for  the  future.'  It  is  with  unfeigned 
reluctance  that  I  enter  upon  the  performance  of  this  part  of 
my  duty :  I  shrink,  almost  instinctively,  from  a  course,  how 
ever  necessary,  which  may  have  a  tendency  to  excite  sectional 
feelings,  and  sectional  jealousies.  But,  sir,  the  task  has  been 
forced  upon  me,  and  I  proceed  right  onward  to  the  perform 
ance  of  my  duty ;  be  the  consequences  what  they  may,  the 
responsibility  is  with  those  who  have  imposed  upon  me  the 
necessity.  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts  has  thought 
proper  to  cast  the  first  stone,  and  if  he  shall  find,  according  to 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  2 

a  homely  adage,  that '  he  lives  in  a  glass-house,'  on  his  head 
be  the  consequences." 

This  language  is  minatory :  it  is  also  somewhat  arrogant. 
As  if  the  consummation  necessarily  followed  the  menace.  The 
Senator  from  South  Carolina  spoke  ex  cathedrA.  He  was 
buoyed  up  by  the  applause  of  friends  and  his  own  sanguine 
temperament. 

The  Senate  adjourned  over  to  the  following  Monday.  The 
town  was  full  of  excitement.  The  severe  nature  of  Col. 
Hayne's  attack,  the  ability  with  which  it  was  conducted,  his 
great  reputation,  the  eminence  of  the  combatants,  and  the 
doubtful  issue  of  the  contest  afforded  ample  scope  for  various 
discussion.  The  friends  of  Col.  Hayne  were  much  elated  at 
what  they  considered  his  brilliant  debut,  and  confidently  pre 
dicted  his  ultimate  triumph.  Mr.  "Webster's  friends  doubted, 
and  hoped. 

A  simultaneous  and  seemingly  preconcerted  attack  upon 
New  England  from  the  leaders  of  Southern  and  Western 
Democracy  raised  among  the  Eastern  men,  of  whatever  politi 
cal  opinions,  a  common  feeling.  Party-spirit  was  wholly 
merged  in  wounded  national  (or  local)  pride.  Sympathy  for 
the  cause,  and  for  Mr.  "Webster  in  the  isolated  position  he 
held  against  such  a  powerful  array,  overrode  for  the  time  all 
prejudice  against  his  person  or  political  principles  The  Yan 
kee  predominated  over  the  Democrat. 

When  the  Senate  convened  again  on  Monday,  the  agitation 

ill  men's  minds,    growing  daily  stronger  from   the  previous 
6* 


122  CHAPTER   V. 

adjournment,  had  gained  a  feverish  character.     The  long  time 
afforded  Col.  Hayne  for  additional  preparation,  his  rumored 
consultations  with  the  Vice-President,  and  the  confident  man 
ner  both  of  himself  and  friends  added  new  force  to  the  excite 
ment,  and  promised  richer  entertainment  from  the  discussion 
so  the  Senate-chamber  was  more  filled  and  earlier  than  usual. 

Col.  Hayne  commenced  this  day  with  a-  history  of  the 
Hartford  Convention,  illustrated  by  the  documentary  evidence 
his  "  scavengers"  had  hunted  up.  The  whole  affair  is  a 
tedious  farrago,  which  not  even  his  name  could  elevate  into 
importance.  Four  columns  and  a  half  of  the  Intelligencer 
were  crowded  with  such  matter — quotations  from  newspapers, 
pamphlets  and  sermons — read  to  the  Senate  "  with  good  ac 
cent  and  good  discretion."  His  elocution  was  fluent  and 
melodious  ;  this  alone  reconciled  Senate  and  audience  to  what 
would  in  itself  have  been  absurdly  tedious. 

Passages  will  be  found  in  the  speech  of  real  eloquence, 
sparsely  scattered,  however.  There  is  no  sustained  power 
throughout,  but  acting  only  at  fitful  intervals.  The  best  hit 
perhaps  the  speaker  made  was  his  charge  against  Mr.  Webster 
of  inconsistency  upon  the  subject  of  the  Tariff.  It  is  conveyed, 
too,  in  language  better  selected  and  more  expressive  than  his 
usual  style.  Speaking  of  Mr.  Webster's  anti-tariff  speech  in 
'24,  Col.  Hayne  said  :  "  On  that  occasion  he,  the  gentlemen, 
assumed  a  position  which  commanded  the  respect  and  admi 
ration  of  his  country.  He  stood  forth  the  powerful  and  fear 
less  champion  of  free-trade.  He  met  in  that  conflict  the  ad- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  123 

vocates  of  restriction  and  monopoly,  and  they  l  fled  from 
before  his  face.'  With  a  profound  sagacity,  a  fulness  of 
knowledge,  and  a  richness  of  illustration  that  has  never  been 
surpassed,  he  maintained  and  established  the  principles  of 
commercial  freedom  on  a  foundation  never  to  be  shaken 
Great  indeed  was  the  victory  achieved  by  the  gentleman  on 
that  occasion  ;  most  striking  the  contrast  between  the  clear,  for 
cible  and  convincing  arguments  by  which  he  carried  away  the 
understanding  of  his  hearers,  and  the  Harrow  views  and 
wretched  sophistry  of  another  distinguished  orator,  who  may 
be  truly  said  to  have  '  held  up  his  farthing  candle  to  the  sun.' 
Sir,  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  on  that  (the  proudest 
day  of  his  life)  like  a  mighty  giant,  bore  away  upon  his  shoul 
ders  the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  error  and  delusion,  escaping 
himself  unhurt,  and  leaving  his  adversaries  overwhelmed  in  its 
ruins.  Then  it  was  that  he  erected  to  free-trade  a  beautiful 
and  enduring  monument,  and  '  inscribed  the  marble  with  his 
name.'  " 

The  vehemence  of  the  orator's  language  and  the  earnestness 
of  his  manner,  produced  no  little  effect  upon  his  audience. 
They  naturally  begat  sympathy.  No  one  had  time  to  deliber 
ate  upon  his  words,  or  canvass  his  statements.  The  dashing 
nature  of  the  attack ;  the  assurance,  almost  insolence,  of  its 
tone  ;  the  severity  and  apparent  truth  of  the  accusations,  con* 
founded  almost  every  hearer.  The  immediate  impression 
from  the  speech  was  most  assuredly  disheartening  to  the  cause 
Mr.  Webster  upheld.  The  friends  of  the  Administration 


124  CHAPTER    V. 

qualified  by  no  regard  for  person  or  place  the  extent  of  their 
exultation.  Congratulations  from  almost  every  quarter  were 
showered  upon  the  speaker.  Mr.  Benton  said,  in  the  full 
Senate,  that  much  as  Col.  Hayne  had  done  before  to  establish 
his  reputation  as  an  orator,  a  statesman,  a  patriot,  and  a  gal 
lant  son  of  the  South,  the  efforts  of  that  day  would  eclipse  and 
surpass  the  whole.  It  would  be  an  era  in  his  senatorial  career 
which  his  friends  and  his  country  would  mark  and  remember, 
and  look  back  upon  with  pride  and  exultation. 

Nor  was  lavish  praise  of  the  speech  confined  to  Mr.  Benton 
or  the  Senate.  Abroad,  it  gained  equal  commendation.  The 
press  of  the  Administration  extolled  it  as  the  greatest  effort  of 
the  time,  or  of  other  times.  Chatham,  nor  Burke,  nor  Fox, 
had  surpassed  it,  in  their  palmiest  days.  Immense  exer 
tions  were  made  to  throw  it  into  general  circulation,  that 
public  opinion  might  be  forestalled  in  regard  to  the  great 
question  of  the  constitutional  power  of  the  General  Government. 

Satisfaction,  however,  with  the  speech  even  among  the 
friends  of  the  orator  was  not  unanimous.  Among  others,  Mr. 
Calhoun,  and  Mr.  Iredell,  a  Senator'  from  North  Carolina, 
doubted.  These  gentlemen  knew,  for  they  had  felt  Mr.  Web 
ster's  power.  They  knew  the  great  resources  of  his  mind  ; 
the  immense  range  of  his  intellect ;  the  fertility  of  his  imagi 
nation  ;  his  copious  and  fatal  logic ;  the  scathing  severity  of 
his  sarcasm,  and  his  full  and  electrifying  eloquence.  To  a 
friend  of  ITayne's,  who  was  pvnising  the  speech,  Mr.  IredoU 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  125 

said :  "  Pie  has  started  the  lion — but  wait  till  we  hear  his 
roar,  or  feel  his  claws." 

Gloomy  fears ,  in  the  meantime,  for  the  most  part,  oppressed 
Mr.  Webster's  friends.  The  savageness  of  the  attack,  its 
seeming  premeditation  and  powerful  support  gave  them  no  en 
couragement  of  a  successful  resistance.  They  felt  for  Mr. 
Webster ;  they  also  felt  for  themselves.  Their  local  pride,  their 
love  of  fame,  the  first  to  spring  up  in  the  heart  of  man,  the  last 
to  leave  it,  was  deeply  mortified. 

Everywhere  during  the  evening  and  night  following,  the 
merits  of  the  speech  were  canvassed.  The  town  was  divided 
into  geographical  opinions.  One's  home  could  be  distinguish 
ed  from  his  countenance,  or  manner ;  a  Southerner's  by  his 
buoyant,  joyous  expression,  and  confident  air ;  a  Yankee's,  by 
his  timid,  anxious  eye,  and  depressed  bearing.  One  walked 
with  a  bold,  determined  step,  that  courted  observation  ;  the 
other,  with  a  hesitating,  shuffling  gait,  that  seemed  to  long  for 
some  dark  corner,  some  place  to  hear  and  see,  and  be  unseen. 

Immediately  upon  the  conclusion  of  Colonel  Hayne's  | 
speech,  Mr.  Webster  took  the  floor  in  reply;  but,  it  being 
near  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  gave  way  to  a  motion  for 
adjournment.  Mr.  Everett  has  kindly  furnished  the  writer 
with  some  notes  of  a  conversation  he  had  with  Mr.  Webster 
the  evening  before  his  speech. 

"  Mr.  Webster  conversed  with  me  freely  and  at  length  upon 
the  subject  of  the  reply,  which  he  felt  it  necessary  to  make  to 
Colonel  Hayne's  speech.  He  regarded  that  speech  as  an  en- 


126  CHAPTER    V. 

tirely  unprovoked  attack  upon  the  Eastern  States,  which  it 
was  scarcely  possible  for  him,  as  a  New  England  Senator,  to 
leave  unnoticed.  He  thought  Colonel  Hayne's  speech,  how 
ever,  much  more  important  in  another  point  of  view,  that  is 
as  an  exposition  of  a  system  of  politics,  which,  in  Mr.  W.'s 
opinion,  went  far  to  change  the  form  of  government  from  that 
which  was  established  by  the  Constitution,  into  that  (if  it  could 
be  called  a  government)  which  existed  under  the  confedera 
tion.  He  expressed  his  intention  of  putting  that  theory  to 
rest  for  ever,  as  far  as  it  could  be  done  by  an  argument  in  the 

Senate  Chamber. 

********* 

"  I  never  saw  him  more  calm  and  self-possessed,  nor  in 
better  spirits  ;  and  in  fact  the  dry  business  tone  in  which  he 
partly  talked  and  partly  read  over  his  points  to  me,  gave  me 
some  uneasiness,  for  fear  he  was  not  sufficiently  aware  how 
much  was  expected  of  him  the  next  day." 

An  anecdote  of  Mr.  Webster's  equanimity  under  the  inflic 
tion  of  Hayne  is  told  by  another  friend,  who  called  on  Mr. 
Webster  the  same  evening.  While  he  was  present,  Mr.  Web 
ster  laid  down  on  the  sofa  for  a  nap — "  his  custom  sometimes  of 
an  afternoon" — and  after  a  while  was  overheard  laughing  to 
himself.  On  being  questioned  as  to  what  amused  him  so,  he 
replied  :  "  I  have  been  thinking  of  what  Col.  Hayne  said  to 
day  about  Banquo's  ghost ;  and  I  am  gcing  to  get  up  and 
make  a  note  of  it." 

Col.    Hayne,  it  will   be    remembered,  had  in   his  second 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  127 

speech  accused  Mr.  Webster  of  sleeping  upon  his  first.  c  The 
mere  matter  of  fact,"  said  Mr.  W.  in  his  reply,  '  is  undoubt 
edly  true.  I  did  sleep  on  the  gentleman's  speech  and  slept 
soundly ;  and  I  slept  equally  well  on  his  speech  of  yesterday 
to  which  I  am  now  replying."  In  truth,  Col.  Hayne's  attack, 
furious  as  it  was,  had  cost  him  neither  loss  of  appetite,  temper 
or  sleep." 

It  is  not  to  be  disguised,  however,  that  his  friends, — even 
his  most  intimate, — entertained  fearful  apprehensions.  Mr. 
Webster's  adversaries  had  selected  their  own  time  for  attack, 
and  made  every  preparation  they  thought  necessary  to  ensure 
success.  They  were  confident  in  their  numbers,  confident 
from  their  position  and  individual  importance,  and  confident 
in  the  strength  of  their  cause.  There  is  always  something,  too, 
of  advantage  in  assuming  the  aggressive ;  courage  suggests, 
and  virtuous  anticipations  await  an  attack :  while  a  defensive 
position  is  seemingly  an  acknowledgment  of  weakness. 

The  momentous  interests  involved  in  the  discussion  stag 
gered  the  minds  of  many.  The  pernicious  heresy  of  nullifica 
tion,  tolerated  if  not  encouraged  in  the  high  places  of  the  Ad 
ministration,  threatened  the  constitution  and  the  union  of  the 
States.  It  had  already  gained  in  different  sections  of  the  coun 
try  too  great  a  prevalence  ;  and  if  now  successfully  advocated 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  little  hope  could  be  enter 
tained  of  safety  or  of  more  than  brief  duration  for  our  national 
institutions. 

The  friends,  therefore,  of  the  Union,  no  less  than  Mr.  Web- 


128  CHAPTER    V. 

ster's  personal  friends,  could  not  but  feel  the  deepest  solicitude 
in  the  result  of  the  controversy ;  a  solicitude  amounting  at 
times  almost  to  despondency.  They  could  hardly  believe  that 
it  was  in  the  power  of  one  man,  no  matter  how  great  his  en 
dowments,  to  roll  back  the  strong  current  that  seemed  likely 
to  overwhelm  the  ancient  landmarks.  All  portents  looked 
gloomy,  they  thought ;  darkness  and  danger  were  everywhere 
around  them,  and  they  saw  no  means  of  emerging  from  their 
great  peril  but  with  great  loss  and  discomfiture. 

The  night,  therefore,  came  down  gloomily  and  heavily  upon 
them.  They  had  no  pastimes  and  little  sleep  that  night,  and 
rose  in  the  early  morning,  unrefreshed  and  anxious  ;  deter 
mined,  however,  with  one  mind,  to  resort  in  gcod  season  to 
the  Capitol. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

WHEN  Cineas  returned  from  his  mission  to  Rome,  he  was 
asked  by  his  master  Pyrrhus,  how  the  Roman  Senate  ap 
peared.  "  Like  an  assembly  of  kings,"  he  replied. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  twenty  years  ago  may  not 
have  presented  the  grave  and  majestic  character  of  the  Ro 
man  Senate.  Our  Senators  wore  not  the  flowing  robes,  nor 
still  more  flowing  beards  of  the  CONSCRIPT  FATHERS.  But  it 
was  composed  of  men  who  could  have  understood  Cicero  as 
well  as  the  audience  he  addressed,  and  replied  to  him  better  ; 
of  men,  too,  not  inferior,  in  physical  organization,  or  intel 
lectual  expression,  to  any  Senate  Rome  ever  boasted. 

"Where,  among  the  most  Patrician  blood  of  Rome,  could 
have  been  found  more  intellectual  majesty  than  in  the  counte 
nances  of  Webster  and  Calhoun,  more  dignity  than  in  their 
bearing,  more  honor  than  in  their  character,  or  more  grandeur 
than  in  their  eloquence  ?  In  whatever  assembly  placed,  they 
would  have  given  to  it  unrivalled  distinction. 

Nor  were  they  the  sole  persons  of  eminent  ability,  or  dis 
tinguished  mien,  in  the  Senate.  There  were  others  only  less 
remarkable  for  both.  The  thoughtful  eye  and  expansH* 


130 


CHAPTER    VI. 


trow  of  Woodbury,  the  refined,  gentlemanly,  and  expressive 
countenance  of  Forsyth,  the  gallant  air  and  intellectual  fea 
tures  of  Hayne,  the  somewhat  supercilious  but  determined 
bearing  of  Benton,  the  tall  form  and  marked  expression  of 
Bell,  the  well-defined  and  rather  majestic  lineaments  of  Clay 
ton — these  characteristics,  with  those  of  other  Senators  no  less 
distinguished,  could  not  fail  to  convey  to  the  spectator  the  im 
pression  of  great  intellectual  and  moral  superiority.  It  was  an 
assembly  to  be  a  member  of  which  might  have  satisfied  the 
most  high-reaching  ambition.  It  was  an  assembly  the  aggre 
gate  ability  of  which,  for  the  number  of  its  members,  has  pro 
bably  never  been  surpassed,  if  equalled,  in  any  representative 
body  of  the  world. 

The  very  character  of  the  Senate  made  its  members  more 
eager  to  distinguish  themselves  in  it.  "Alexander  fights 
when  he  has  kings  for  his  competitors."  Rivalry,  always 
natural  to  the  heart,  became  more  emulous,  more  earnest, 
more  intense,  with  such  a  field  for  its  encouragement  and  ex 
hibition  ;  when  men  were  judges  of  the  intellectual  strife,  who 
could  themselves  have  taken  an  equal  part  in  it,  had  occasion 
demanded. 


It  was  not  alone  the  combined  strength  of  the  administra 
tion  party  in  the  Senate  Mr.  Webster  had  to  fear.  He  could 
not  but  be  in  doubt  respecting  his  political  allies.  The  char 
acter  of  the  minority  at  this  time  was  somewhat  anomalous. 
It  was  composed  of  Federalists  of  the  old  school,  who  had  ad- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  131 

hered  to  the  younger  Adams,  notwithstanding  his  gross  ter 
giversations  ;  of  those  Republicans,  who,  in  the  preceding 
canvass,  from  personal  or  local  rather  than  from  political  con 
siderations,  had  preferred  Mr.  Adams  to  his  competitor ;  and 
of  "  National  Republicans"  so  called — a  party  formed  indiffer 
ently  of  the  two  others.  To  make  an  argument  which  should 
satisfy  all  without  offending  either  of  these  classes  seemed  a 
task  difficult  to  be  accomplished. 

Fortunately  for  the  country  and  his  own  fame,  his  doubts, 
on  the  subject,  were  removed.  His  warmest  friends  urged 
with  great  eagerness  upon  him  an  unequivocal,  unreserved 
declaration  of  his  views.  None  were  more  trusted,  nor  es 
teemed  by  him,  than  SAMUEL  BELL,  then  a  Senator  from 
New  Hampshire.  Originally  a  Federalist,  he  had  gone  over 
to  the  Republican  party,  early  on  the  accession  of  Jefferson, 
and  had  supported  his  administration  zealously  and  efficiently. 
He  had  advocated  and  defended  the  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  all  other  measures  of  the  Republican  party  up  to  the 
Presidential  canvass  of  1824.  On  that  occasion,  as  well  as 
four  years  later,  without  any  violence,  as  he  supposed,  to  his 
political  principles  or  antecedents,  he  had  favored  the  preten 
sions  of  Mr.  Adams.  From  his  history,  character,  and  gen 
eral  knowledge  of  persons  and  measures,  he  was  perhaps  the 
best  exponent  of  the  intentions  and  sentiments  of  the  some 
what  mottled  party,  opposed  to  the  administration  of  General 
Jackson. 

So  at  least  Mr.  Webster  thought ;  and  on  the  morning  of 


132  CHAPTER    VI. 

the  speech,  after  he  had  gone  to  the  Capitol,  he  called  Mr. 
into  the  robing-room  of  the  Senate,  and  told  him  his  difficulty. 
"  You  know,  Mr.  Bell,"  said  he,  "  my  constitutional  opinions. 
There  are,  among  my  friends  in  the  Senate,  some  who  may 
not  concur  in  them.  What  is  expedient  to  be  done  ?"  Mr 
Bell,  with  great  emphasis  of  manner,  advised  him  to  speak  out, 
boldly  and  fully,  his  thoughts  upon  the  subject.  "  It  is  a 
critical  moment,"  said  he,  "  and  it  is  time,  it  is  high  time  the 
people  of  this  country  should  know  what  this  Constitution  is." 
"  Then,"  replied  Mr.  Webster,  "  by  the  blessing  of  heaven, 
they  shall  learn,  this  day,  before  the  sun  goes  down,  what  I 
understand  it  to  be." 

It  was  on  Tuesday,  January  the  26th,  1830, — a  day  to  be 
hereafter  forever  memorable  in  Senatorial  annals, — that  the 
Senate  resumed  the  consideration  of  Foote's  Resolution. 
There  never  was  before,  in  the  city,  an  occasion  of  so  much 
excitement.  To  witness  this  great  intellectual  contest,  multi 
tudes  of  strangers  had  for  two  or  three  days  previous  been 
rushing  into  the  city,  and  the  hotels  overflowed.  As  early  as 
9  o'clock  of  this  morning,  crowds  poured  into  the  Capitol,  in 
hot  haste  ;  at  12  o'clock,  the  hour  of  meeting,  the  Senate- 
Chamber, — its  galleries,  floor  and  even  lobbies, — was  filled  to 
its  utmost  capacity.  The  very  stairways  were  dark  with  men, 
who  hung  on  to  one  another,  like  bees  in  a  swarm. 

The  House  of  Representatives  was  early  deserted.  An 
adjournment  would  have  hardly  made  it  emptier.  The 
Speaker,  it  is  true,  retained  his  chair,  but  no  business  of  mo- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  133 

me-dt  *as,  <<*.  coald  be,  attended  to..  Members  all  rushed  in 
to  hear  Mr  Wobs'cr,  and  no  call  of  the  House  or  other  Par 
liamentary  proceedings  could  compel  them  back.  The  floor 
of  the  Senate  was  so  densely  crowded,  that  persons  once  in 
could  not  get  out,  nor  change  their  position  ;  in  the  rear  of 
the  Vice-Presidential  chair,  the  crowd  was  particularly  in 
tense.  Dixon  H.  Lewis,  then  a  Representative  from  Ala 
bama,  became  wedged  in  here.  From  his  enormous  size,  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  move  without  displacing  a  vast 
portion  of  the  multitude.  Unfortunately  too,  for  him,  he  was 
jammed  in  directly  behind  the  chair  of  the  Vice-President, 
where  he  could  not  see,  and  hardly  hear,  the  speaker.  By 
slow  and  laborious  effort — pausing  occasionally  to  breathe — he 
gained  one  of  the  windows,  which,  constructed  of  painted  glass, 
flank  the  chair  of  the  Vice-President  on  either  side.  Here 
he  paused,  unable  to  make  more  headway.  But  determined 
to  see  Mr.  "Webster  as  he  spoke,  with  his  knife  he  made  a 
large  hole  in  one  of  the  panes  of  the  glass ;  which  is  still 
visible  as  he  made  it.  Many  were  so  placed,  as  not  to  be 
able  to  see  the  speaker  at  all. 

The  courtesy  of  Senators  accorded  to  the  fairer  sex  room 
on  the  floor — the  most  gallant  of  them,  their  own  seats.  The 
gay  bonnets  and  brilliant  dresses  threw  a  varied  and  pictur 
esque  beauty  over  the  scene,  softening  and  embellishing  it. 

Seldom,  if  ever,  has  speaker  in  this  or  any  other  country 
had  more  powerful  incentives  to  exertion ;  a  subject,  the  de 
termination  of  which  involved  the  most  important  interests. 


134  CHAPTER    VI. 

and  eveii  duration,  of  the  republic ;  competitors,  unequalled 
in  reputation,  ability,  or  position  ;  a  name  to  make  still  more 
glorious,  or  lose  forever  ;  and  an  audience,  comprising  not  only 
persons  of  this  country  most  eminent  in  intellectual  greatness, 
but  representatives  of  other  nations,  where  the  art  of  elo 
quence  had  flourished  for  ages.  All  the  soldier  seeks  in  op 
portunity  was  here. 

Mr.  Webster  perceived,  arid  felt  equal  to,  the  destinies  ol 
the  moment.  The  very  greatness  of  the  hazard  exhilarated 
hmi.  His  spirits  rose  with  the  occasion.  He  awaited  the 
time  of  onset  with  a  stern  and  impatient  joy.  He  felt,  like  the 
war-horse  of  the  Scriptures, — who  "  paweth  in  the  valley,  and 
rejoiceth  in  his  strength  :  who  goeth  on  to  meet  the  armed  men, 
— who  sayeth  among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha  !  and  who  smell- 
eth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the  captains  and  the 
shouting." 

A  confidence  in  his  own  resources,  springing  from  no  vain 
estimate  of  his  power,  but  the  legitimate  offspring  of  previous 
severe  mental  discipline  sustained  and  excited  him.  He  had 
guaged  his  opponents,  his  subject  and  himself, 

He  was  too,  at  this  period,  in  the  very  prime  of  manhood. 
He  had  reached  middle  age — an  era  in  the  life  of  man,  when 
the  faculties,  physical  or  intellectual,  may  be  supposed  to 
attain  their  fullest  organization,  and  most  perfect  develop 
ment.  Whatever  there  was  in  him  of  intellectual  energy  and 
vitality,  the  occasion,  his  full  life  and  high  ambition,  might 
well  bring  forth 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  13D 

He  never  rose  on  an  ordinary  occasion  to  address  an  ordi 
nary  audience  more  self-possessed.  There  was  no  tremulous- 
ness  in  his  voice  nor  manner  ;  nothing  hurried,  nothing  simu 
lated.  The  calmness  of  superior  strength  was  visible  every 
where  ;  in  countenance,  voice  and  bearing.  A  deep-seated 
conviction  of  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  emergency,  and 
of  his  ability  to  control  it,  seemed  to  possess  him  wholly.  If 
an  observer,  more  than  ordinarily  keen-sighted,  detected  at 
times  something  like  exultation  in  his  eye,  he  presumed  it 
sprang  from  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  and  the  anticipa 
tion  of  victory. 

The  anxiety  to  hear  the  speech  was  so  intense, irrepressible, 
and  universal,  that  no  sooner  had  the  Yice-President  assumed 
the  chair,  than  a  motion  was  made  and  unanimously  carried, 
to  postpone  the  ordinary  preliminaries  of  Senatorial  action, 
and  to  take  up  immediately  the  consideration  of  the  resolu 
tion. 

Mr.  Webster  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate.  His  exordium 
is  known  by  heart,  everywhere  :  "  Mr.  President,  when  the 
mariner  has  been  tossed,  for  many  days,  in  thick  weather, 
and  on  an  unknown  sea,  he  naturally  avails  himself  of  the 
first  pause  in  the  storm,  the  earliest  glance  of  the  sun,  to 
take  his  latitude,  and  ascertain  how  far  the  elements  have 
driven  him  from  his  true  course.  Let  us  imitate  this  pru 
dence  ;  and  before  we  float  further,  on  the  waves  of  this  de 
bate,  refer  to  the  point  from  which  we  departed,  that  we  may3 


136  CHAPTER    VI. 

at  least,  be  able  to  form  some  conjecture  where  we  now  are, 
I  ask  for  the  reading  of  the  resolution." 

There  wanted  no  more  to  enchain  the  attention.  There 
was  a  spontaneous,  though  silent,  expression  of  eager  appro 
bation,  as  the  orator  concluded  these  opening  remarks.  And 
while  the  clerk  read  the  resolution,  many  attempted  the  im 
possibility  of  getting  nearer  the  speaker.  Every  head  wag 
inclined  closer  towards  him,  every  ear  turned  in  the  direction 
of  his  voice — and  that  deep,  sudden,  mysterious  silence  fol 
lowed,  which  always  attends  fulness  of  emotion.  From  the 
sea  of  upturned  faces  before  him,  the  orator  beheld  his 
thoughts  reflected  as  from  a  mirror.  The  varying  counte 
nance,  the  suffused  eye,  the  earnest  smile,  and  ever-attentive 
look  assured  him  of  his  audience's  entire  sympathy.  If  among 
his  hearers  there  were  those  who  affected  at  first  an  indiffer 
ence  to  his  glowing  thoughts  and  fervent  periods,  the  difficult 
mask  was  soon  laid  aside,  and  profound,  undisguised,  devoted 
attention  followed.  In  the  earlier  part  of  his  speech,  one  of 
his  principal  opponents  seemed  deeply  engrossed  in  the  care 
ful  perusal  of  a  newspaper  he  held  before  his  face  ;  but  this, 
on  nearer  approach,  proved  to  be  upside,  down.  In  truth,  all, 
sooner  or  later,  voluntarily,  or  in  spite  of  themselves,  were 
wholly  carried  away  by  the  eloquence  of  the  orator. 

One  of  the  happiest  retorts  ever  made  in  a  forensic  contro 
versy  was  his  application  of  Ilayne's  comparison  of  the  ghost 
^f  the  "  murdered  coalition"  to  the  ghost  of  Banquo  : 

"  Sir,  the  honorable  member  was  not,  for  other  reasons,  en- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  137 

tirely  happy  in  his  allusions  to  the  story  of  Bauquo's  murder, 
and  Banquo's  ghost.  It  was  not,  I  think,  the  friends,  but 
the  enemies  of  the  murdered  Banquo,  at  whose  bidding  his 
spirit  would  not  down.  The  honorable  gentleman  is  fresh  in 
his  reading  of  the  English  classics,  and  can  put  me  right  if  I 
am  wrong ;  but,  according  to  my  poor  recollection,  it  was  at 
those  who  had  begun  with  caresses,  and  ended  with  foul  and 
treacherous  murder,  that  the  gory  locks  were  shaken  !  The 
ghost  of  Banquo,  like  that  of  Hamlet  was,  an  honest  ghost.  It 
disturbed  no  innocent  man.  It  knew  where  its  appearance 
would  strike  terror,  and  who  would  cry  out,  a  ghost !  It 
made  itself  visible  in  the  right  quarter,  and  compelled  the 
guilty,  and  the  conscience-smitten,  and  none  others,  to  start, 
with, 

" '  Pr'ythee,  see  there  !  behold !  look  !  lo, 
If  I  stand  here,  I  saw  him !' 

THEIR  eyeballs  were  seared  (was  it  not  so,  sir?)  who  had 
thought  to  shield  themselves,  by  concealing  their  own  hand, 
and  laying  the  imputation  of  the  crime  on  a  low  and  hireling 
agency  in  wickedness  ;  who  had  vainly  attempted  to  stifle  the 
workings  of  their  own  coward  consciences,  by  ejaculating, 
through  white  lips  and  chattering  teeth,  "  Thou  canst  not  say 
I  did  it !"  I  have  misread  the  great  poet  if  those  who  had  no 
way  partaken  in  the  deed  of  death,  either  found  that  they  were, 
or  feared  that  they  should  be,  pushed  from  their  stools  by  the 

ghost  of  the  slain,  or  exclaimed,  to  a  spectre  created  by  their 

7 


138  CHAPTER    VI. 

own  fears,  and  their  own  remorse,  "Avaunt!  and  quit  our 
sight !" 

There  was  a  smile  of  appreciation  upon  the  faces  all  around, 
at  this  most  felicitous  use  of  another's  illustration — this  turn^ 
ing  one's  own  witness  against  him — in  which  Col.  Hayne  good 
humoredly  joined. 

As  the  orator  carried  out  the  moral  of  Macbeth,  and  proved 
by  the  example  of  that  deep-thinking,  intellectual,  but  insane 
ly-ambitious  character,  how  little  of  substantial  good  or  perma 
nent  power  was  to  be  secured  by  a  devious  and  unblessed 
policy,  he  turned  his  eye  with  a  significance  of  expression,  full 
of  prophetic  revelation  upon  the  Vice-President,  reminding 
him  that  those  who  had  foully  removed  Banquo  had  placed 

"  A  barren  sceptre  in  their  gripe, 
Thence  to  be  wrenched  by  an  unlincal  hand, 
No  son  of  theirs  succeeding." 

Every  eye  of  the  whole  audience  followed  the  direction  of  his 
own — and  witnessed  the  changing  countenance  and  visible 
agitation  of  Mr.  Calhoun. 

Surely,  no  prediction  ever  met  a  more  rapid  or  fuller  con 
firmation,  even  to  the  very  manner  in  which  the  disaster  was 
accomplished.  Within  a  few  brief  months,  the  political  for 
tunes  of  the  Vice-President,  at  this  moment  seemingly  on  the 
very  point  of  culmination,  had  sunk  so  low,  there  were  none 
so  poor  to  do  him  reverence. 

Whether  for  a  moment  a  presentiment  of  the  approaching 
crisis  in  his  fate,  forced  upon  his  mind  by  the  manner  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  181 

language  of  the  speaker,  cast  a  gloom  over  his  countenance 
or  some  other  cause,  it  is  impossible  to  say ;  but  his  brow  gre^ 
dark,  nor  for  some  time  did  his  features  recover  their  usual 
impassibility. 

The  allusion  nettled  him, — the  more  as  he  could  not  bui 
witness  the  effect  it  produced  upon  others — and  made  him 
restless.  He  seemed  to  seek  an  opportunity  to  break  in  upon 
the  speaker ;  and  later  in  the  day,  as  Mr.  Webster  was  expos 
ing  the  gross  and  ludicrous  inconsistencies  of  South  Carolina 
politicians,  upon  the  subject  of  Internal  Improvements,  he 
interrupted  him  with  some  eagerness :  "  Does  the  chair  under 
stand  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  to  say  that  the  per 
son  now  occupying  the  chair  of  the  Senate  has  changed  his 
opinions  on  this  subject  ?"  To  this,  Mr.  Webster  replied 
immediately,  and  good-naturedly :  "  From  nothing  ever  said 
to  me,  sir,  have  I  had  reason  to  know  of  any  change  in  the 
opinions  of  the  person  filling  the  chair  of  the  Senate.  If  such 
change  has  taken  place,  I  regret  it."* 

*  Mr.  Calhoun's  interruption  was  un-Parliamentary,  or  rather,  un- 
Senatorial.  The  Vice-President  is  not  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  has 
no  voice  in  it  save  for  the  preservation  of  order  and  enforcement  of  the 
rules.  He  cannot  participate  otherwise  either  in  the  debates  or  proceed 
ings.  He  is  simply  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate — having  no  vote 
in  its  affairs  save  on  a  tie.  Had  Mr.  Webster  made  a  direct,  unmistake- 
able  allusion  to  him,  Mr.  Calhoun  still  could  have  replied  through  a 
friendly  Senator,  or  the  press.  On  this  occasion  he  was  too  much  ex 
cited  to  attend  to  the  etiquette  of  his  position.  His  feelings  and  his  in 
terest  in  the  question  male  him  forgetful  of  his  duty. 


140  CHAPTER    VI. 

Those  who  had  doubted  Mr.  Webster's  ability  to  cope  with 
and  overcome  his  opponents  were  fully  satisfied  of  their  error 
before  he  had  proceeded  far  in  his  speech.  Their  fears  soon 
took  another  direction.  When  they  heard  his  sentences  of 
powerful  thought,  towering  in  accumulative  grandeur,  one 
above  the  other,  as  if  the  orator  strove,  Titan-like,  to  reach 
the  very  heavens  themselves,  they  were  giddy  with  an  appre 
hension  that  he  would  break  down  in  his  flight.  They  dared 
not  believe,  that  genius,  learning,  any  intellectual  endow 
ment  however  uncommon,  that  was  simply  mortal,  could  sus 
tain  itself  long  in  a  career  seemingly  so  perilous.  They 
feared  an  Icarian  fall. 

Ah  !  who  can  ever  forget,  that  was  present  to  hear,  the 
tremendous,  the  awful  burst  of  eloquence  with  which  the 
orator  spoke  of  the  Old  Bay  State !  or  the  tones  of  deep 
pathos  in  which  the  words  were  pronounced  : 

"  Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on  no  encomium  upon 
Massachusetts.  There  she  is — behold  her,  and  judge  for 
yourselves.  There  is  her  history  :  the  world  knows  it  by 
heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure.  There  is  Boston,  and 

Sometime  later  than  this,  after  a  rupture  had  taken  place  between 
Gen.  Jackson  and  himself,  Mr.  Forsyth,  of  Georgia,  on  being  interrupted 
by  some  (as  he  thought)  uncalled  for  question  or  remark,  rebuked  him 
in  an  emphatic  manner  foj  violation  of  official  etiquette.  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
•who  ousted  and  succeeded  him,  always  remained  silent,  placid,  imper 
turbable  in  his  seat,  however  personal  or  severe  the  attack  upon  him  ; — 
and  no  Vice-President  since  his  day  has  ever  attempted  to  interfere  witfc 
the  discussions  of  the  Senate. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  141 

Concord,  and  Lexington,  and  Bunker  Hill — and  there  they 
will  remain  forever.  The  bones  of  her  sons,  falling  in  the 
great  struggle  for  independence,  now  lie  mingled  with  the 
soil  of  every  State,  from  New  England  to  Georgia  ;  and  there 
they  will  lie  forever.  And,  sir,  where  American  Liberty 
raised  its  first  voice  ;  and  where  its  youth  was  nurtured  and 
sustained,  there  it  still  lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood 
and  full  of  its  original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion  shall 
wound  it — if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition  shall  hawk  at  and 
tear  it — if  folly  and  madness — if  uneasiness,  under  salutary 
and  necessary  restraint — shall  succeed  to  separate  it  from 
that  Union,  by  which  alone  its  existence  is  made  sure,  it  will 
stand,  in  the  end,  by  the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which  its 
infancy  was  rocked  :  it  will  stretch  forth  its  arm  with  what 
ever  of  vigor  it  may  still  retain,  over  the  friends  who  gather 
round  it ;  and  it  will  fall  at  last,  if  fall  it  must,  amidst  the 
proudest  monuments  of  its  own  glory,  and  on  the  very  spot  of 
its  origin." 

What  New  England  heart  was  there  but  throbbed  with 
vehement,  tumultuous,  irrepressible  emotion,  as  he  dwelt 
upon  New  England  sufferings,  New  England  struggles,  and 
New  England  triumphs  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution  ? 
There  was  scarcely  a  dry  eye  in  the  Senate  ;  all  hearts  were 
overcome  ;  grave  judges  and  men  grown  old  in  dignified  life 
turned  aside  their  heads,  to  conceal  the  evidences  of  their 
emotion.* 

*  Gen.  Washington  said  that  the  New  England  troops  came  bettfj 


142  CHAPTER    VI 

In  one  corner  of  the  gallery  was  clustered  a  group  of 
Massachusetts  men.  They  had  hung  from  the  first  moment 
upon  the  words  of  the  speaker,  with  feelings  variously  but 
always  warmly  excited,  deepening  in  intensity  as  he  proceeded. 
&t  first,  while  the  orator  was  going  through  his  exordium, 
they  held  their  breath  and  hid  their  faces,  mindful  of  the 
Bavage  attack  upon  him  and  New  England,  and  the  fearful 
odds  against  him,  her  champion  ; — as  he  went  deeper  into  his 
speech,  they  felt  easier  ;  when  he  turned  Hayne's  flank  on 
Banquo's  ghost,  they  breathed  freer  and  deeper.  But  now, 
as  he  alluded  to  Massachusetts,  their  feelings  were  strained  to 
the  highest  tension  ;  and  when  the  orator,  concluding  his 
encomium  upon  the  land  of  their  birth,  turned,  intentionally, 
or  otherwise,  his  burning  eye  full  upon  them — they  shed  tears 
like  girls  ! 

No  one  who  was  not  present  can  understand  the  excitement 
of  the  scene.  No  one,  who  was,  can  give  an  adequate  de 
scription  of  it.  No  word-painting  can  convey  the  deep, 
intense  enthusiasm, — the  reverential  attention,  of  that  yast 
assembly — nor  limner  transfer  to  canvass  their  earnest,  eager, 
awe-struck  countenances.  Though  language  were  as  subtile 
and  ilcxible  as  thought,  it  still  would  be  impossible  to  repre 
sent  the  full  idea  of  the  scene.  There  is  something  intangible 
in  an  emotion,  which  cannot  be  transferred.  The  nicer 
shades  of  feeling  elude  pursuit.  Every  description,  therefore, 

clothed  into  the  field,  were  as  orderly  there,  and  Bought  as  well,  if  not 
better,  than  any  troops  on  the  continent. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  143 

of  the  occasion,  seems  to  the  narrator  himself  most  tame, 
spiritless,  unjust. 

Much  of  the  instantaneous  effect  of  the  speech  arose,  of 
course,  from  the  orator's  delivery — the  tones  of  his  voice,  his 
countenance,  and  manner.*  These  die  mostly  with  the 
occasion  that  calls  them  forth — the  impression  is  lost  in  the 
attempt  at  transmission  from  one  mind  to  another.  They  can 
only  be  described  in  general  terms.  "  Of  the  effectiveness  of 
Mr.  Webster's  manner,  in  many  parts,"  says  Mr.  Everett, 
"  it  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  give  any  one  not  present 
the  faintest  idea.  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  hear  some  of  the 
ablest  speeches  of  the  greatest  living  orators  on  both  sides  of 
the  water,  but  I  must  confess,  I  never  heard  anything  which 

*  The  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Webster  has  been  a  theme  ol 
frequent  discussion.  He  was  at  the  time  this  speech  was  delivered 
twenty  years  younger  than  now.  Time  had  not  thinned  nor  bleached 
his  hair  :  it  was  as  dark  as  the  raven's  plumage,  surmounting  his  mas 
sive  brow  in  ample  folds.  His  eye,  always  dark  and  deep-set,  enkindled 
by  some  glowing  thought,  shone  from  beneath  his  sombre,  overhanging 
brow  like  lights,  in  the  blackness  of  night,  from  a  sepulchre.  It  was 
such  a  countenance  as  Salvator  Rosa  delighted  to  paint. 

No  one  understood,  or  understands,  better  than  Mr.  Webster  the 
philosophy  of  dress :  what  a  powerful  auxiliary  it  is  to  speech  and 
manner,  when  harmonizing  with  them.  On  this  occasion  he  appeareu 
in  a  blue  coat  and  buff  vest, — the  Revolutionary  colors  of  buff  and 
jlue ; — with  a  white  cravat ; — a  costume,  than  which  none  is  more 
Becoming  to  his  face  and  expression.  This  courtly  particularity  ot 
Iress  adds  no  little  to  the  influence  of  his  manner  and  apr.  earance. 


144  CHAPTER    VI. 

so  completely  realized  my  conception  of  what  Demosthenea 
was  when  he  delivered  the  Oration  for  the  Crown." 

Assuredly,  Kean  nor  Kemble,  nor  any  other,  masterly 
delineator  of  the  human  passions  ever  produced  a  more 
powerful  impression  upon  an  audience,  or  swayed  so  completely 
their  hearts.  This  was  acting, — not  to  the  life, — but  life 
itself. 

No  one  ever  looked  the  orator,  as  he  did — "  os  humerosque 
deo  similis,"  in  form  and  feature  how  like  a  god.  His 
countenance  spake  no  less  audibly  than  his  words.  His 
manner  gave  new  force  to  his  language.  As  he  stood  swaying 
his  right  arm,  like  a  huge  tilt-hammer,  up  and  down,  his 
swarthy  countenance  lighted  up  with  excitement,  he  appeared 
amid  the  smoke,  the  fire,  the  thunder  of  his  eloquence,  like 
Vulcan  in  his  armory  forging  thoughts  for  the  Gods  ! 

The  human  face  never  wore  an  expression  of  more  wither 
ing,  relentless  scorn,  than  when  the  orator  replied  to  Hayne's 
allusion  to  the  "  murdered  coalition."  "  It  is,"  said  Mr. 
W.,  "the  very  cast-off  slough  of  a  polluted  and  shameless 
press.  Incapable  of  further  mischief,  it  lies  in  the  sewer, 
lifeless  and  despised.  It  is  not  now,  sir,  in  the  power  of  the 
honorable  member  to  give  it  dignity  or  decency,  by  attempt 
ing  to  elevate  it,  and  introduce  it  into  the  Senate.  He  cannot 
change  it  from  what  it  is — an  object  of  general  disgust  and 
gcorn.  On  the  contrary,  the  contact,  if  he  choose  to  touch 
it,  is  more  likely  to  drag  him  down,  down  to  the  place  where 
it  lies  itself."  He  looked,  as  he  spoke  these  words,  as  if  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  145 

thing  lie  alluded  to  was  too  mean  for  scorn  itself — and  the 
sharp,  stinging  enunciation  made  the  words  still  more  wither 
ing.  The  audience  seemed  relieved, — so  crushing  was  the 
expression  of  his  face  which  they  held  on  to,  as  'twere,  spell 
bound, — when  he  turned  to  other  topics. 

The  good-natured  yet  provoking  irony  with  which  he 
described  the  imaginary  though  life-like  scene  of  direct 
collision  between  the  marshalled  array  of  South  Carolina 
under  Gen.  Hayne  on  the  one  side,  and  the  officers  of  the 
United  States  on  the  other,  nettled  his  opponent  even  more 
than  his  severer  satire  ;  it  seemed  so  ridiculously  true.  Col. 
Hayne  enquired,  with  some  degree  of  emotion,  if  the  gentle 
man  from  Massachusetts  intended  any  personal  imputation  by 
such  remarks  ?  To  which  Mr.  Webster  replied,  with  perfect 
good  humor  :  "  Assuredly  not — just  the  reverse." 

The  variety  of  incident  during  the  speech,  and  the  rapid 
fluctuation  of  passions,  kept  the  audience  in  continual  expect 
ation,  and  ceaseless  agitation.  There  was  no  chord  of  the 
heart  the  orator  did  not  strike,  as  with  a  master-hand.  The 
speech  was  a  complete  drama  of  comic  and  pathetic  scenes  ; 
one  varied  excitement ;  laughter  and  tears  gaining  alternate 
victory. 

A  great  portion  of  the  speech  is  strictly  argumentative  ;  an 
exposition  of  constitutional  law.  But  grave  as  such  portion 
necessarily  is,  severely  logical,  abounding  in  no  fancy  or 
episode,  it  engrossed  throughout  the  undivided  attention  of 
every  intelligent  hearer.  Abstractions,  under  the  glowing 


146  CHAPTER    IV. 

genius  of  the  orator,  acquired  a  beauty,  a  vitality,  a  power  to 
thrill  the  blood  and  enkindle  the  affections,  awakening  into 
earnest  activity  many  a  dormant  faculty.  His  ponderous 
syllables  had  an  energy,  a  vehemence  of  meaning  in  them 
that  fascinated,  while  they  startled.  His  thoughts  in  their 
statuesque  beauty  merely  would  have  gained  all  critical 
judgment ;  but  he  realized  the  antique  fable,  and  warmed  the 
marble  into  life.  There  was  a  sense  of  power  in  his  language, — 
of  power  withheld  and  suggestive  of  still  greater  power, — that 
subdued,  as  by  a  spell  of  mystery,  the  hearts  of  all.  For 
power,  whether  intellectual  or  physical,  produces  in  its  earnest 
development  a  feeling  closely  allied  to  awe.  It  was  never 
more  felt  than  on  this  occasion.  It  had  entire  mastery.  The 
sex,  which  is  said  to  love  it  best  and  abuse  it  most,  seemed  as 
much  or  more  carried  away  than  the  sterner  one.  Many  who 
had  entered  the  hall  with  light,  gay  thoughts,  anticipating  at 
most  a  pleasurable  excitement,  soon  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  speaker  and  his  subject — surrendered  him  their  entire 
heart ;  and,  when  the  speech  was  over,  and  they  left  the  hall, 
it  was  with  sadder  perhaps,  but,  surely,  with  far  more  elevated 
and  ennobling  emotions. 

The  exulting  rush  of  feeling  with  which  he  went  through 
the  peroration  threw  a  glow  over  his  countenance,  like  inspi 
ration.  Eye,  brow,  each  feature,  every  line  of  the  face 
seemed  touched,  as  with  a  celestial  fire.  All  gazed  as  at 
something  more  than  human.  So  Moses  might  have  appeared 
to  the  awe-struck  Israelites  as  he  emerged  from  the  dark 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  147 

clouds  and  thick  smoke  of  Sinai,  his  face  all  radiant  -with  the 
breath  of  divinity  ! 

The  swell  and  roll  of  his  voice  struck  upon  the  ears  of  the 
spell-bound  audience,  in  deep  and  melodious  cadence,  as 
waves  upon  the  shore  of  the  "  far-resounding"  sea.  The 
Miltonic  grandeur  of  his  words  was  the  fit  expression  of  his 
thought  and  raised  his  hearers  up  to  his  theme.  His  voice, 
exerted  to  its  utmost  power,  penetrated  every  recess  or  corner 
of  the  Senate — penetrated  even  the  ante-rooms  and  stairways, 
as  he  pronounced  in  deepest  tones  of  pathos  these  words  of 
solemn  significance :  "  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to 
behold,  for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see 
hini  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a  once 
glorious  Union ;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ! 
on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in 
fraternal  blood  !  Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance 
rather  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now  known 
and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,* 

*  Mr.  Webster  may  have  had  in  his  mind,  when  speaking  of  th« 
gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  Milton's  description  of  the  imperia' 
banner  Vi  the  lower  regions,  floating  across  the  immensity  of  space : 

*  Who  forthwith  from  the  glittering  staff  unfurl' d 
The  imperial  ensign  ;  which,  full  high  advanced 
Shone  like  a  meteor  streaming  to  the  wind, 
With  gems  and  golden  lustre  rich  imblaz'd, 
Seraphic  arms  and  trophies ;  all  ti.e  while 
Sonorous  metal  blowing  martial  sounds  :" 


148  CHAPTER    VI 

its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  original  lustre,  not  a 
stripe  erased  nor  polluted,  not  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing 
for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as,  f '  What  is  all 
this  worth  ?"  ]  Nor  those  other  words  of  delusion  and  folly, 
Liberty  first  and  Union  afterwards  ;  but  everywhere,  spread 
all  over  in  characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample 
folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in 
every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that  other  sentiment, 
dear  to  every  American  heart,  LIBERTY  AND  UNION,  NOW  AND 


FOREVER,  ONE  AND  INSEPARABLE  !" 

The  speech  was  over,  but  the  tones  of  the  orator  still 
lingered  upon  the  ear,  and  the  audience,  unconscious  of  the 
close,  retained  their  positions.  The  agitated  countenance,  the 
heaving  breast,  the  suffused  eye  attested  the  continued  influ 
ence  of  the  spell  upon  them.  Hands  that  in  the  excitement 
of  the  moment  had  sought  each  other,  still  remained  closed 
in  an  unconscious  grasp.  Eye  still  turned  to  eye,  to  receive 
and  repay  mutual  sympathy  ; — and  everywhere  around  seemed 
forgctfulness  of  all  but  the  orator's  presence  and  words. 

When  the  Vice-President,  hastening  to  dissolve  the  spell, 
angrily  called  to  order  !  order  !  There  never  was  a  deeper 
stillness — not  a  movement,  not  a  gesture  had  been  made, — 
not  a  whisper  uttered — order  !  Silence  could  almost  have 

And  this  in  its  turn  is  borrowed  from,  or  suggested  by,  Tasso's  description 
of  the  banner  of  the  Crusades,  when  first  unfolded  in  Palestine — which 
the  inquisitive  reader  may  find,  if  he  choose,  in  "  Jerusalem  Delivered.7' 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  149 

heard  itself,  it  was  so  supernaturally  still.  The  feeling  was 
too  overpowering,  to  allow  expression,  by  voice  or  hand.  It 
was  as  if  one  was  in  a  trance,  all  motion  paralyzed. 

But  the  descending  hammer  of  the  Chair  awoke  them,  with 
a  start — and  with  one  universal,  long-drawn,  deep  breath, 
with  which  the  overcharged  heart  seeks,  relief, — the  crowded 
assembly  broke  up  and  departed. 

The  New-England  men  walked  down  Pennsylvania  avenue 
that  day,  after  the  speech,  with  a  firmer  step  and  bolder  air — 
"  pride  in  their  port,  defiance  in  their  eye."  You  would  have 
sworn  they  had  grown  some  inches  taller  in  a  few  hours' 
time.  They  devoured  the  way,  in  their  stride.  They  looked 
every  one  in  the  face  they  met,  fearing  no  contradiction. 
They  swarmed  in  the  streets,  having  become  miraculously 
multitudinous.  They  clustered  in  parties,  and  fought  the 
scene  over  one  hundred  times  that  night.  Their  elation  was 
the  greater,  by  reaction.  It  knew  no  limits,  or  choice  of 
expression.  Not  one  of  them  but  felt  he  had  gained  a 
personal  victory.  Not  one,  who  was  not  ready  to  exclaim, 
with  gushing  eyes,  in  the  fulness  of  gratitude,  "  Thank  God, 
I  too  am  a  Yankee  !" 

In  the  evening  General  Jackson  held  a  levee  at  the  White 
House.  It  was  known,  in  advance,  that  Mr.  Webster  would 
attend  it,  and  hardly  had  the  hospitable  dcors  of  the  house 
been  thrown  open,  when  the  crowd  that  had  filled  the  Senate- 
chamber  in  the  morning  rushed  in  and  occupied  the  rooms. 


150  CHAPTER    VI. 

Persons  a  little  more  tardy  in  arriving  found  it  almost  impos 
sible  to  get  in,  such  a  crowd  oppressed  the  entrance. 

Before  this  evening,  the  General  had  been  the  observed  of 
all  observers.  His  military  and  personal  reputation,  official 
position,  gallant  bearing,  and  courteous  manners,  had  secured 
him  great  and  merited  popularity.  His  receptions  were 
always  gladly  attended  by  large  numbers — to  whom  he  was 
himself  the  object  of  attraction. 

But  on  this  occasion,  the  room  in  which  he  received  his 
company  was  deserted,  as  soon  as  courtesy  to  the  President 
permitted.  Mr.  Webster,  it  was  whispered,  was  in  the  East 
Room,  and  thither  the  whole  mass  hurried. 

He  stood  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  hemmed  in  by 
eager  crowds,  from  whom  there  was  no  escape,  all  pressing  to 
get  nearer  to  him.  He  seemed  but  little  exhausted  by  the 
intellectual  exertion  of  the  day,  severe  as  it  had  been.  The 
flush  of  excitement  still  lingered  and  played  upon  his  counte 
nance,  gilding  and  beautifying  it,  like  the  setting  sun  its 
accompanying  clouds. 

All  were  eager  to  get  a  sight  at  him.  Some  stood  on  tip 
toe,  and  some  even  mounted  the  chairs  of  the  room.  Many 
were  presented  to  him.  The  dense  crowd,  entering  and 
retiring,  moved  round  him,  renewing  the  order  of  their 
ingrcssion  and  egression,  continually.  One  would  ask  his 
neighbor  :  "  Where,  which  is  Webster  ?" — "  There,  don't 
you  see  him — that  dark,  swarthy  man,  with  a  great  deep  eye 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  151 

and  heavy  brow — that's  Webster."     No  one  was  obliged  to 
make  a  second  inquiry. 

In  another  part  of  the  room  was  Col.  Hayne.  He,  too, 
had  had  his  day  of  triumph,  and  received  congratulations. 
His  friends  even  now  contended  that  the  contest  was  but  a 
drawn-battle,  no  full  victory  having  been  achieved  on  either 
side.  There  was  nothing  in  his  own  appearance  this  evening 
to  indicate  the  mortification  of  defeat.  With  others,  he  went 
up  and  complimented  Mr.  Webster  on  his  brilliant  effort  ;*  and 
no  one,  ignorant  of  the  past  struggle,  could  have  supposed 
that  they  had  late  been  engaged  in  such  fierce  rivalry. 

*  It  was  said  at  the  time,  that,  as  Col.  Hayne  approached  Mr. 
Webster  to  tender  his  congratulations,  the  latter  accosted  him  with  the 
usual  courtesy,  "  How  are  you,  this  evening,  Col.  Hayne  ?"  and  that 
Col.  Hay«  replied,  good-humoredly,  '•  None  the  better  for  yot*,  «>/" 


CHAPTER  VII. 

COLONEL  HAYNE  occupied  himself  diligently  in  taking 
notes  while  Mr.  Webster  spoke,  and  replied,  in  a  speech  of 
about  half  an  hour,  to  Mr.  Webster's  constitutional  opinions. 
The  speech  reported  contained  a  great  deal  more  than  the  one 
delivered  ;  the  great  importance  of  the  question  making  it  de 
sirable,  in  Colonel  Hayne's  opinion,  that  arguments  should 
be  supplied,  which  he  had  been  obliged,  from  want  of  time,  to 
omit  in  the  debate. 

Mr.  Webster  immediately  replied  in  a  summary  re-state 
ment  of  his  argument ;  "  of  which  the  parallel,  says  Mr. 
Everett,  "  as  a  compact  piece  of  reasoning,  will  not  readily  be 
found."  Mr.  Adams  pronounced  it  even  superior  to  the  one 
that  preceded  it.  It  fills  less  than  three  pages  of  the  Con 
gressional  Debates,  while  Hayne's,  to  which  it  was  a  reply, 
occupies  nineteen. 

The  manner  in  which  the  GREAT  SPEECH,  as  the  second  in 
point  of  time  is  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  one  thai 
preceded  and  the  one  that  followed  it,  came  before  the  public 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  know.  Mr.  Clayton,  of  Dola 
ware,  and  Judge  Burnett,  of  Ohio, — then  Senators, — callot 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  153 

the  morning  of  the  speech  upon  Mr.  Gales,  the  senior  editor 
of  the  National  Intelligencer ,  and  at  that  time  Mayor  of  the 
city  of  Washington,  and  requested  him  to  undertake  the  re 
porting  of  the  speech.  Mr.  Gales  was  known  to  be  one  of  the 
best  writers  of  the  English  language  connected  with  our  na 
tional  literature,  and  more  capable  than  almost  any  one  else, 
of  understanding  and  recording  the  peculiar  merits  of  Mr. 
Webster's  style.  Notwithstanding  the  engrossing  nature  of 
his  avocations,  he  assented  to  the  request.  He  made  a  steno 
graphic  report  of  the  speech,  which  Mrs.  Gales  wrote  out  at 
large.  Her  copy  was  sent  to  Mr.  Webster,  and  by  him  re 
vised  the  same  evening. 

The  demand  for  the  speech  was  immense.  The  National 
Intelligencer  of  May,  1830,  said — "  The  demand  for  copies  of 
Mr.  Webster's  speech  in  what  has  been  called  the  Great  De 
bate  in  the  Senate,  has  been  unprecedented.  We  are  just 
completing  an  edition  of  20,000  copies,  which,  added  to 
former  editions,  will  make  an  aggregate  of  nearly  40,000  copies 
that  have  been  printed  at  this  office  alone." 

Pamphlet  editions  too  were  struck  off  in  thousands  ;  not  in 
Washington  alone,  but  elsewhere.  A  very  large  edition  was 
printed  in  Boston,  containing  Colonel  Hayne's  speech  also. 
A  proposal  was  made  to  the  friends  of  Colonel  Hayne  to  pub 
lish  a  joint  edition  for  distribution  throughout  the  country ; 
this  liberal  offer  was  however  declined  on  their  part. 

Never  before,  in  this  or  any  other  country,  did  any  speech 
gain  such  rapid  and  general  circulation. 


154  CHAPTER    VII. 

The  debate  still  continued  after  the  conclusion  of  the  con 
test  between  Mr.  Webster  and  Colonel  Hayne,  for  weeks  and 
even  months.  Commencing  early  in  January,  it  dragged  on, 
with  fitful  interruptions,  till  the  21st  of  May,  on  which  day 
Colonel  Benton,  who  had  in  truth  provoked  it,  brought  it  to  a 
close.  The  excitement  gradually  subsided,  till,  towards  the 
end  of  the  debate,  the  speakers  addressed  "  empty  boxes." 
Benton,  Woodbury,  Grrundy,  Rowan  and  Livingston,  each 
attempted,  more  or  less  creditably,  a  reply  to  Mr.  Webster's 
positions.  But  their  eloquence  seemed  cold,  their  arguments 
ineffective,  after  Mr.  Webster's ;  spectators  became  indif 
ferent — 

"  As  in  a  theatre,  the  eyes  of  men, 
After  a  well -graced  actor  leaves  the  stage, 
Are  idly  bent  on  him  that  enters  next, 
Thinking  his  prattle  to  be  tedious." 

The  United  States  Telegraph^  Mr.  Calhoun's  putative 
organ,  in  speaking  of  "  the  Great  Debate  in  the  Senate,''  said 
in  the  paper  of  the  8th  of  February — "  The  importance  of 
this  debate  must  be  apparent  to  all.  It  is  deeply  felt  here. 
The  Senators  who  have  spoken,  and  those  who  will  speak,  dis 
charge  a  great  and  sacred  duty  to  their  country.  It  is  not  a 
holiday  debate,  but  a  real  and  eventful  contest  for  the 
safety  of  the  States,  and  the  counteraction  of  the  most 
daring  schemes  for  the  recovery  of  lost  power,  that  our  coun 
try  has  ever  witnessed.  Mr.  Webster  has  brought  it  forward, 
but  he  lacks  courage  to  breast  the  storm  which  he  has  ex- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  155 

cited.  He  has  not  been  seen  in  the  Senate  since,  except  to 
vote  for  his  party.  He  depends  upon  his  speech,  which  is  to 
go  forth,  North  and  West,  to  rally  all  that  can  be  collected  in 
the  crusade  against  the  States,  against  the  South,  and  against 
the  present  administration.  It  must  not  go  forth  unanswered, 
and  it  will  not." 

The  answers  came,  "  thick  as  autumnal  leaves  that  strew 
the  brooks  in  Yallambrosa ;"  and  as  rapidly  disappeared.  Few 
even  of  well-informed  politicians  have  read  them  ;  while,  to 
the  general  student,  they  are  mostly  wholly  unknown.  Not 
that  they  were  without  talent ;  some  possessed  far  more  than 
ordinary  ability,  but  they  have  all  been  forgotten  in  the  supe 
rior  interest  excited  by  Mr.  Webster's  effort. 

Mr.  Woodbury's  speech,  as  an  argument,  perhaps,  followed 
Colonel  Hayne's  in  ability.  He  took  care  to  avoid,  with  the 
sagacity  that  distinguishes  his  character,  the  extreme  doctrine 
of  his  southern  ally.  He  would  not  acknowledge  the  consti 
tutional  right  of  a  State  to  prevent  the  execution  of  a  law  of 
the  United  States  believed  by  such  State  to  be  unconstitu 
tional,  but  referred  opposition  to  the  inalienable  right  of  re 
sistance  to  oppression.  In  truth,  he  diverged  but  little  from 
the  line  of  argument  adopted  by  Mr.  Webster. 

His  speech  was  grateful  to  the  juste  milieu  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  the  Senate  and  the  country.  It  also  particu 
larly  pleased  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Missouri.  When 
Mr.  Woodbury  had  concluded,  Colonel  Benton  rose,  and  ex 
tending  his  right  hand  over  the  head  of  the  Granite  Senator, 


156 


CHAPTER    VII. 


much  like  a  pope  or  cardinal  pronouncing  benediction,  ex 
claimed  in  a  loud  voice  — "  Yes,  this  is  Peter,  and  this  Peter 
is  the  rock  on  which  the  church  of  New-England  democracy 
shall  be  built ;"  and  then  added  in  a  low  tone,  not  supposed 
to  be  intended  for  the  hearing  of  the  Senate — "  and  the  gates 
of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  him." 

Such  things  as  this  give  a  relief  to  the  grave  and  solemn 
proceedings  of  the  august  Senate. 

Col.  Benton  himself  spoke  four  days.  He  did  not  go  into 
an  elaborate  argument  upon  the  relative  powers  of  the  States 
and  the  Federal  Government* — in  which  his  success  pro- 

*  Col.  Benton,  however,  gave  the  Senate  his  opinion  upon  the  sub 
ject  which  coincided  too  nearly  with  Mr.  Hayne's ;  the  best  answer  to 
it  is  to  be  found  in  his  own  words,  as  spoken  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  third  day  of  January  last.  Speaking  of  his  constituents, 
he  says:  "They  abide  the  law  when  it  comes,  be  it  what  it  may,  sub 
ject  to  the  decision  of  the  ballot-box  and  the  judiciary. 

"  I  concur  with  the  people  of  Missouri  in  this  view  of  their  duty,  and 
believe  it  to  be  the  only  course  consistent  with  the  terms  and  intentions 
of  our  Constitution,  and  the  only  one  which  can  save  this  Union  from 
the  fate  of  all  the  confederacies  which  have  successively  appeared  and 
disappeared  in  the  history  of  nations.  Anarchy  among  the  members 
and  not  tyranny  in  the  head,  has  been  the  rock  on  which  all  such  con 
federacies  have  split.  The  authors  of  our  present  form  of  government 
knew  the  danger  of  this  rock,  and  they  endeavored  to  provide  against  it. 
They  formed  a  union — not  a  league — a  Federal  Legislature  to  act  upon 
persons,  not  upon  States ;  and  they  provided  peaceful  remedies  for  all 
the  questions  which  could  arise  between  the  people  and  the  government. 
They  provided  a  federal  judiciary  to  execute  the  federal  laws  when 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  157 

bably  would  have  been  fully  equal  to  that  of  Col.  Hayne  or 
Mr.  Woodbury — but  rather  indulged  the  Senate  with  a  his 
tory  of  parties  during  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  and 
also  with  a  review  of  the  action  of  Congress  upon  the  subject 
of  the  public  lands.  His  speech  for  one  so  long  and  various 
was  not  uninteresting. 

Something  perhaps  should  be  said  of  the  person  who,  igno 
rant  of  its  explosive  qualities,  threw  this  bomb  into  the  Senate. 

No  man  assuredly  ever  achieved  immortality  easier  than 
Mr.  Foote,  of  Conn.  As  the  author  of  the  Resolution,  he  will 
go  down  to  the  latest  posterity,  while  the  names  of  many  who 
shared  in  the  debate  will  be  lost  in  the  early  part  of  the 
journey  ;  are  indeed  even  now  almost  forgotten. 

He  was  a  man  no  otherwise  distinguished,  and  perhaps  in- 
found  to  be  constitutional,  and  popular  elections  to  repeal  them  when 
found  to  be  bad.  They  formed  a  government  in  which  the  law  and 
popular  will,  and  not  the  sword,  was  to  decide  questions ;  and  they 
looked  upon  the  first  resort  to  the  sword  for  the  decision  of  such  ques 
tions  as  the  death  of  the  Union.  The  old  confederation  was  a  league, 
with  a  legislature  acting  upon  sovereignties,  without  power  to  enforce 
its  decrees,  and  without  union  except  at  the  will  of  the  parties.  It 
was  powerless  for  government  and  a  rope  of  sand  for  union.  It  was  to 
escape  from  that  helpless  and  tottering  government  that  the  present 
Constitution  was  formed." 

Such  a  full  recantation  of  political  heresy  required  a  degree  of  magna 
nimity  and  moral  courage  seldom  found.     Any  man  may  commit  errors 
—but  few,  like  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Missouri,  have  the  hardi 
hood  to  acknowledge  and  the  manliness  to  correct  them. 


58  CHAPTER    VII. 

capable  of  any  particular  distinction.  Amiable  in  private  lift., 
respectable  but  never  eminent  in  public,  of  no  ill-regulated 
ambition,  nor  eccentric  vanity,  he  was  one  of  the  last  to  have 
been  suspected  of  designing  to  give  character  or  intellectual 
vitality  to  thought  or  action.  And  surely  no  man  was  more 
surprised  than  himself  at  the  formidable  consequences  of  his 
innocent  act.  What  he  had  proposed  as  a  harmless  enquiry 
became  through  the  agency  of  others  the  immediate  cause  of 
an  animated,  fiery  discussion ;  in  which  personalities  were 
given  and  retorted ;  provocations  maliciously  put  forth,  and 
indignantly  thrown  back  ;  and  argument  the  most  profound, 
eloquence  the  most  impassioned,  embodied  in  language  the 
most  chaste  and  sublime,  involved  in  the  discussion  of  the  most 
momentous  interests.  He  was  the  most  confounded  at  his 
own  importance.  To  use  the  language  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  he 
felt  "  the  terrors  of  a  child,  who  has,  in  heedless  sport,  put 
in  motion  some  powerful  piece  of  machinery  ;  and  while  he 
beholds  wheels  revolving,  chains  clashing,  cylinders  rolling 
around  him,  is  equally  astonished  at  the  tremendous  powers 
which  his  weak  agency  has  called  into  action,  and  terrified  for 
the  consequences  which  he  is  compelled  to  await  without  the 
possibility  of  averting  them."  But  it  must  not  be  inferred 
from  the  mention  of  no  other  name,  that  Mr.  Webster  alone 
of  the -Opposition  Senators  participated  in  this  debate.  Such 
an  opinion  would  do  injustice  to  the  history  of  the  affair. 
Messrs.  Sprague  and  Holmes,  of  Maine,  Barton,  of  Missouri, 
Johnston,  of  La.,  Clayton  of  Delaware,  and  Bobbins,  of  Rhode 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  159 

Island,  with  others,  made  speeches,  and  good  speeches.  Mr. 
Clayton  made  a  most  able  argument,  full  of  historical  research, 
upon  the  various  duties  and  powers  of  the  co-ordinate  branches 
of  the  Government. 

Barton,  of  Missouri,  severely  castigated  his  colleague,  fill 
ing  the  part  in  the  drama  declined  by  Mr.  Webster.  He  was 
a  man,  like  Swift,  of  coarse  invective,  and  coarser  humor. 
Equal  to  Randolph  in  bitterness,  he  excelled  even  that  dreaded 
satirist  in  personal  vituperation.  Of  an  original  and  eccentric 
mind,  a  rapid  though  not  profound  thinker,  his  speeches  often 
produced  an  effect,  more  than  proportioned,  perhaps,  to  their 
intrinsic  merit. 

While  he  was  speaking  on  this  occasion,  the  Yice-President 
called  him  to  order,  for  using  "  expressions  inadmissible  in  a 
deliberative  body."  Circumstances,  it  is  said,  alter  cases. 
When  John  Randolph,  a  few  years  previous,  was  transgress 
ing  not  merely  the  rules  of  debate  but  of  courtesy,  in  calling 
the  President  a  Puritan,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  a  black 
leg,  Mr.  Calhoun  refused  to  call  him.  to  order,  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  his  sole  office  to  preside  over  the  deliberations  of 
the  Senate,  and  not  to  keep  order  in  it.  Mr.  Barton,  how 
ever,  could  now  be  reprimanded  though  much  less  guilty. 

Mr.  Sprague,  of  Maine,  made  an  excellent  speech  in  de 
fence  of  New  England,  temperate  and  conclusive.  Other 
Senators  of  the  anti-Jackson  party  distinguished  themselves 
more  or  less  in  the  debate.  Some,  who  did  not  speak,  re 
frained,  not  through  lack  of  ability,  but  from  a  conviction  that 


1GQ  CHAPTER    VII. 

the  occasion  did  not  need  their  voices.  Chambers,  of  Maryland, 
Burnett,  of  Ohio,  Seymour,  of  Vt.,  and  Kuggles,  of  Ohio, 
were  equal  to  any  forensic  combat.  These  and  others  formed 
a  corps  du  reserve,  which  could  have  been  brought  up,  when 
ever  the  nature  of  the  contest  seemed  to  require  their  aid. 

In  speaking  of  the  political  and  personal  friends  of  Mr. 
Webster  on  this  occasion,  it  would  be  injustice  to  make  no  al 
lusion  to  Mr.  Silsbee,  of  Mass.  His  position  as  colleague  of  Mr. 
Webster, — the  intimacy  that  subsisted  between  them, — his  cha 
racter,  ability,  and  influence  in  the  Senate  provoke  and  justify 
the  mention  of  his  name.  In  this  important  crisis,  he  stood 
manfully  by  his  colleague,  gave  him  advice,  aid  and  sympathy, 
wholly  and  devotedly.  "What  the  sympathy  of  an  earnest,  ar 
dent.,  capable  and  experienced  friend  is  worth  they  can  only 
tell,  who  have  been  in  exigencies  to  require  it. 

Mr.  Webster  and  Mr.  Silsbee  were  colleagues  other  than  in 
position.  They  did  not  represent  Massachusetts  merely,  but 
the  same  liberal  ideas  and  principles.  Harmonious  in  senti 
ment  as  in  action,  they  consulted  together  under  no  restriction 
of  official  etiquette,  but  freely,  frankly,  fraternally.  It  was  of 
much  advantage  to  Mr.  Webster,  to  be  able  to  lean  upon  such 
a  man,  in  such  an  emergency ;  to  feel  sure  of  warm  sympathy, 
unbounded  friendship,  and  untiring  zeal,  while  he  battled 
against  such  odds,  for  reputation  and  political  existence. 

There  was  no  envy  in  Mr.  Silsbee  ;  no  malice ;  no  jealous 
repining  at  another's  superiority.  His  colleague,  he  knew, 
towered  above  him,  and  overshadowed  him.  But  he  was  not 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  161 

one  of  the  sickly  plants  that  languish  in  the  shade.  He  had 
inherent  vitality  enough,  constitutional  vigor  enough,  to  live, 
and  grow  strong  and  vigorous,  without  incessant  sunshine. 

The  profession  to  which  he  was  educated  did  not  insist  upon  his 
being  an  orator.  And  yet  few,  trained  to  forensic  pursuits,  knew 
better  to  express  their  meaning ;  or  could  reach,  by  shorter 
path,  the  understanding  of  their  auditors,  and  gain  so  entirely 
their  convictions.  The  sincerity  of  his  purpose  gave  force  and 
transparency  to  his  language.  No  man  in  the  Senate  enjoyed, 
or  deserved,  more  respect. 

Mr.  Webster  was  not  only  assailed  in  the  Senate  by  the  chiefs 
of  the  administration  party,  but  by  the  democratic  press,  gener 
ally  throughout  the  country.  The  metropolitan  newspaper, — 
the  Z7.  *S.  Telegraph, — whose  editor  was  printer  to  the  Senate, 
attacked  him  with  relentless  malice.  This  kind  of  assault 
troubled  him  most,  as  he  had  no  means  of  meeting  or  repelling 
it.  Some  action  in  the  matter,  however,  he  thought  demand 
ed  by  his  position  as  Senator,  and  that  of  the  editor  as  an  offi 
cer  of  the  Senate.  Accordingly,  on  the  28th  of  January  he 
rose  in  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  said :  "  A  newspaper  has 
been  put  into  my  hands  this  morning,  purporting  to  be  print 
ed  and  published  in  this  city  by  Duff  Green,  who  is  printer  to 
the  Senate.  In  this,  I  find  an  article  referring  to  the  debate 
in  the  Senate  yesterday ;  and  in  that  article,  among  other 
statements  equally  false,  it  is  said,  that  Mr.  Webster  contend 
ed  that c  the  National  Government  was  established  by  the  peo- 
8 


162  CHAPTER    VII. 

pie,  who  had  imparted  to  it  unlimited  powers  over  the  States 
and  Constitution.' 

"  I  am  of  opinion  that  we  ought  to  leave  our  seats  alto 
gether,  or  protect  ourselves  from  atrocious  and  wilful  calum 
nies,  committed  by  persons  who  are  admitted  on  this  floor,  and 
receive  from  our  hands  large  disbursements  of  public  money. 
It  becomes  us  to  yield  our  places  here  to  men  of  better  spiri/ 
and  go  home,  or  show  that  we  are  not  to  be  bullied  or  slander 
ed  out  of  a  free  and  full  exercise  of  our  functions." 

He  then  gave  notice  that  on  a  similar  occurrence  of  a  simi 
lar  offence,  he  should  make  a  specific  motion. 

His  opponents  finding  where  they  could  assail  him  with  the 
most  injury  to  him  and  impunity  to  themselves  reiterated  the 
charges  against  him,  in  the  Telegraph,  with  additional  viru 
lence.  Mr.  Webster,  in  consequence,  submitted  the  following 
resolution  to  the  Senate  :  "  Resolved ,  That  the  Senate  will  on 
the  fourth  day  of  February  next  proceed  to  the  choice  of  a 
printer  to  the  Senate."  This  resolution,  however,  he  consent 
ed  soon  after,  on  the  advice  of  friends,  to  withdraw  ;  and  no 
farther  action  was  had  on  the  matter. 


If  Mr.  Webster  needed  aught  else  to  satisfy  his  ambitioi. 
than  the  proud  consciousness  of  having  ably  discharged  his 
duty  to  his  country,  the  warm  testimonials  of  grateful  admira 
tion  that  poured  in  upon  him  from  the  most  distinguished  in 
dividuals,  in  every  part  of  the  Union,  might  have  been  consid 
ered  fully  sufficient.  Massachusetts, — to  whose  name  he  has 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  163 

erected  a  monument  no  more  perishable  than  her  soil, — came 
eagerly  forward  to  evince  her  earnest  gratitude.  The  most 
eminent  in  the  State,  for  piety,  learning,  or  public  worth,  sent 
him  letters  of  thanks  for  the  great  service  he  had  rendered  the 
State  and  the  Union — "  their  children's  children" — they  wrote 
— "would  bless  him,  as  they  did,  to  the  latest  posterity.'' 
Resolutions  of  a  majority  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature, 
and  of  numerous  assemblies  throughout  the  State  and  New 
England,  all  expressive  of  the  deepest  gratitude  for  his  success 
ful  vindication  of  the  name  and  character  of  the  State  and 
New  England  from  undeserved  reproach,  were  forwarded  to 
him,  in  due  time. 

Nor  was  praise  of  his  effort  confined  to  his  State  or  New 
England.  It  was  general,  as  the  service  he  had  performed  to 
his  country.  His  exposition  and  defence  of  the  Constitution 
drew  forth  the  expression  of  thanks  from  every  quarter. 
"  The  ability  with  which  the  great  argument  is  treated" — 
writes  the  Ron.  William  Gaston,  formerly  a  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  Congress  from  North  Carolina — "  the  patriotic  fervor 
with  which  the  Union  is  asserted,  give  you  claim  to  the  gratitude 
of  every  one  who  loves  his  country  and  regards  the  Constitu 
tion  as  its  best  hope  and  surest  stay.  My  engrossing  occupa 
tions  leave  me  little  leisure  for  any  correspondence  except  on 
business, — but  I  have  resolved  to  seize  a  moment  to  let  you 
know  that  with  us  there  is  scarcely  a  division  of  opinion  among 
the  intelligent  portion  of  the  community.  All  of  them,  whose 
understanding  or  whose  conscience  are  not  surrendered  to  the 


164  CHAPTER    VII. 

servitude  of  faction  greet  your  eloquent  efforts  with  unmixed 
approbation." 

"  I  congratulate  you,"  writes  Mr.  Clay,  "  on  the  very  great 
addition  which  you  have  made,  during  the  session,  to  your 
previous  high  reputation.     Your  speeches,  and  particularly  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Hayne,  are  the  theme  of  praise  from  every  tongue 
and  I  have  shared  in  the  delight  which  all  have  felt." 

O 

Commendation  of  the  speech  from  persons  almost  equally 
distinguished,  reached  Mr.  Webster  ;  from  one,  still  more  so. 
JAMES  MADISON,  one  of  the  principal  framers  of  the  Consti 
tution,  and,  in  safest  opinion,  its  best  interpreter,  wrote  to  a 
friend  soon  after  reading  this  speech,  in  warm  terms  of  its 
ability,  its  constitutional  character,  and  its  "  tremendous  effect 
upon  the  doctrines  of  nullification." 


There  is  no  such  thing  as  extemporaneous  speaking,  strictly 
considered.  No  man  can  address  an  assembly  in  language 
worthy  to  be  remembered,  without  some  previous  study  of  his 
subject.  The  command  of  a  whole  vocabulary  will  not  supply 
ideas  ;  verbal  fluency  is  even  dangerous  to  their  proper  expres 
sion.  We  lose  the  substance  in  the  shadow. 

Certainly,  therefore,  it  will  not  be  contended,  that  Mr. 
Webster's  entire  reply  to  Col.  Hayne  was  the  inspiration  of 
the  moment — that  he  took  no  thought,  before  speech,  of  what 
he  should  say.  Most  undoubtedly,  some  of  the  important 
questions  which  he  discussed  on  this  celebrated  occasion  had 
received,  previously,  his  attention  and  careful  consideration. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  165 

The  Tariff,  the  Public  Lands,  and  the  Constitution,  were 
matters  of  a  too  important  character  not  to  demand  the  recog 
nition  and  deep  study  of  any  statesman. 

But  of  what  is  generally  understood  by  preparation,  Mr. 
Webster  had  made  little :  less,  perhaps,  for  an  occasion  of 
equal  importance,  than  any  orator  of  ancient  or  modern  times. 
The  orators  of  antiquity,  it  is  well  known,  elaborated  their 
sentences  no  less  than  their  thoughts  ;  were  as  anxious  about 
a  phrase  as  a  sentiment ;  while  those  most  celebrated  of  modern 
days  have  been  also  most  distinguished  for  previous  study. 
Burke  and  Canning,  more  especially,  polished  and  amended, 
revised  and  re-revised,  till  the  original  thought  was  hardly 
recognizable  in  its  last  dress. 

Mr.  Webster's  brief  on  this  occasion  did  not  cover  one  side 
of  a  sheet  of  paper,  the  major  part  of  it  being  in  relation  to  the 
Public  Lands  ;  while  the  most  important  topic  of  the  speech, 
that  which  related  to  the  history  and  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution,  was  discussed  without  a  single  note.  A  fact  that 
seems  the  more  remarkable,  when  it  is  recollected  that  Mr. 
Webster  had  never  been  engaged  in  the  discussion  of  a  Con 
stitutional  question  at  any  time  in  his  previous  Parliamentary 
career.  It  is  true,  however,  that  in  his  professional  life  he 
had  had  occasion  to  examine  and  argue  some  important  points 
of  Constitutional  Law,  as  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case,  and 
in  the  steamboat  case  of  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden,  already  alluded 
to.  But  these  cases,  important  as  they  were  to  the  proper 
settlement  of  vexed  questions,  and  involving  as  they  do  higK 


166  CHAPTER    VII. 

principles  of  Constitutional  law,  did  not  agitate  the  delicately, 
adjusted  political  relations  between  the  States  and  the  Federal 
Government.  This  question  was  first  examined  in  full  in  this 
debate.  Undoubtedly,  however,  Mr.  Webster  had  dwelt  upoi. 
it  before  in  his  mind  ;  the  whole  force  and  capacity  of  it  were 
not  opened  to  him  at  the  moment,  like  a  revelation.  He  wa>. 
full  of  it,  and  required  no  promptings  and  no  guides.  The 
mind,  contend  the  metaphysicians,  always  thinks;  and  Mr. 
Webster's,  more  than  other  men's,  may  have  been  exercised 
upon  such  loftythemes  as  these. 

No  one  can  read  this  speech  of  his  in  reply  to  Hayne,  or 
any  or  either  of  his  most  celebrated  productions,  without  being 
reminded  of  scriptural  passages.  In  truth,  no  writer  or  speaker 
of  any  reputation,  of  the  age,  is  more  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Hebrew  poetry  than  Mr.  Webster.  Those  nearest  admitted 
to  his  intimacy  wonld  be  the  readiest  to  bear  testimony  to  his 
familiar  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  the  Old  Bible. 
"  The  hidden  treasure  of  poetry,"  (I  quote  from  recollection 
merely J  "  is  the  Hebrew  books.  Few  persons  remount  to  the 
source,  to  l  Siloa's  brook,  that  flowed  fast  by  the  oracle  of  God.' 
There  is  no  writer  in  any  language,  ancient  or  modern,  more 
poetical  than  Habakkuk.  In  the  translation,  even,  he  appears 
to  greater  advantage  than  the  heroic  poets — than  Homer,  or 
those  that  followed  him.  In  the  vernacular,  besides  the  energy 
of  the  words  there  is  a  rythm,  a  metre,  as  much  as  in  the  Iliad 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  167 

<jr  Eneid.     The  translation  has  not  always  destroyed  it ;  as 
take,  for  instance,  the  following  lines  : 

'  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom, 
Neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines ; 
The  labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail, 
And  the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat ; 
The  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold, 
And  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls : 
Yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.7 

Here  now  is  a  regular  equiponderance  of  sentences  till  you 
get  to  the  last  line,  which  is  double.  Then  what  beautiful  and 
expressive  language !  i  The  labor  of  the  olive  !'  In  what 
Other  book  will  you  find  an  expression  of  like  energy  and 
beauty  ?  The  tree  itself  is,  by  a  bold  metaphor,  made  to 
contribute,  spontaneously,  to  the  wants  of  man,  as  if  it  had 
thews  and  muscles,  and  was  capable  of  action.  '  The  field 
shall  yield  no  meat.'  What  a  stronger  impression  the  word 
*  meat'  conveys,  than  product,  or  fruit,  or  any  common  term. 
It  is  true — poetical.  It  at  once  gives  you  the  idea  of  all  that 
maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man  ;  and  the  failure  of  the  fields, 
therefore,  falls  upon  the  mind  with  a  heavier  gloom. 

The  whole  chapter  is  sublime.  I  read  it  often,  and  each 
time  with  still  greater  admiration  i  The  prayer  of  Habakkuk,' 
as  it  is  called." 

It  would  be  unfair  to  Mr.  "Webster  to  attempt  to  give  hig 
language  from  remembrance.  No  author,  of  another  tongue, 
would  suffer  more  from  translation.  Some  of  the  strongest 


168  CHAPTER    VII. 

expressions,  no  less  than  nicer  shades  of  sentiment,  would  bo 
lost  in  the  transmission.  He  must  be  heard  to  be  appreciated. 

Those  admitted  to  the  intimacy  of  his  conversation,  can  tell 
of  the  eloquent  fervor  with  which  he  speaks  of  the  inspired 
writings — how  much  light  he  can  throw  upon  a  difficult  text — • 
how  much  beauty  lend  to  expressions  that  would  escape  all 
but  the  eye  of  genius — what  new  vigor  he  can  give  to  the  most 
earnest  thoughts — and  what  elevation  to  even  sublimity.  "  It 
would  be  impossible,"  says  a  distinguished  orator  from  another 
section  of  the  country,  "  for  any  one  to  listen  half  an  hour  to 
Mr.  Webster  on  the  Scriptures,  and  not  believe  in  their  inspi 
ration — or  his." 

But  while  Mr.  Webster's  public  productions  and  private 
conversations  attest  how  deeply  he  is  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Scriptures,  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  ever  contained 
the  slightest  irreverent  allusion  to  any  passage  in  them — any 
thing  in  the  way  of  illustration,  analogy  or  quotation,  that 
could  seem  to  question  their  sanctity.  He  has  been  scrupu 
lously  delicate  in  this  regard  ;  and  therein  differs  widely  from 
most  of  his  contemporaries  in  public  life  on  this  continent :  for 
it  is  made  matter  of  reproach  to  us,  as  a  nation,  that  our  public 
speakers,  in  Congress  particularly,  take  the  grossest  liberties 
with  the  most  sacred  texts  of  the  Scriptures — use  them  to 
garnish  the  most  ordinary  topics,  or  illustrate  their  own  ignoble 
pursuits  and  histories  ;  and,  in  fact,  pay  them  no  more  regard 
than  profane  books. 

It  is  not  so  in  England.     Good  taste,  if  not  a  religious 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  169 

sense,  avoids  any  such  irreverence.  When  Lord  Plunkctt 
once,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  speaking  of  the  great  an 
ticipations  that  were  entertained  of  George  IV.'s  accession  to 
the  throne,  alluded  to  it  as  THE  GREAT  COMING,  the  members 

of  the  House  were  shocked,  and  the  speaker  felt  the  rebuke. 
8* 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

THE  same  year  in  which  Mr.  "Webster  gained  his  forensic 
laaivls  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  secured  him 
also  a  great  professional  triumph.  All  of  New  England, 
at  that  time  of  sufficient  age  and  capacity  to  have  compre 
hended  it,  will  recollect  the  deep,  intense  sensation  produced 
throughout  the  community  that  year  by  the  extraordinary  mur 
der  of  Joseph  White,  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  on  the  night 
of  the  6th  of  April.  The  respectability,  wealth,  and  ad 
vanced  age  of  the  murdered  man,  the  mysterious  nature  of 
the  midnight  murder,  the  strange  and  romantic  details  con 
nected  with  its  perpetration,  the  relationship  of  one  of  the 
assassins  to  the  victim,  and  other  circumstances  of  almost 
equal  interest,  produced  an  excitement  at  the  time,  which  was 
as  deep  as  it  was  general,  and  which  has  dwelt  upon  the  mind 
ever  since  with  nearly  all  the  distinctness  of  its  first  impres 
sion. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  murder,  Richard  Crowningshield, 
G-eorge  Crowningshield,  brothers,  Joseph  J.  Knapp,  who  had 
married  a  daughter  of  the  neice  of  the  murdered  man,  and 
John  Francis  Knapp,  also  brothers,  were  arrested,  on  a  charge 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  171 

of  having  perpetrated  the  murder,  and  committed  for  trial. 
Joseph  J.  Knapp,  soon  after  his  arrest,  under  promise  of 
favor  from  the  government,  was  induced  to  make  a  full  con 
fession  of  the  crime,  and  of  the  circumstances  attending  it. 
A  few  days  after  his  disclosure  had  been  made  and  become 
known,  Richard  Crowningshield,  who  was  supposed  to  have  been 
the  principal  assassin,  committed  suicide. 

By  act  of  the  Legislature,  a  special  session  of  the  Supreme 
Court  was  holden  at  Salem,  in  July,  for  the  trial  of  the  pri 
soners.  In  the  ordinary  arrangement  of  the  courts,  but  one 
week  in  a  year,  was  allotted  for  the  whole  court  to  sit  in  that 
county ;  and,  as  in  the  trial  of  all  capital  offences,  a  majority 
of  the  court  were  required  to  be  present,  and  as  weeks  would 
in  all  probability  be  consumed  in  this  trial,  but  for  such  inter 
position  of  the  Legislature,  three  years  would  not  have  been 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  It  was  for  this  reason  and  not  on 
account  of  the  excitement  in  the  community,  and  the  interest 
felt  in  the  result,  that  the  special  session  was  ordered. 

Before  this  court,  John  Francis  Knapp  was  arraigned  as 
principal  in  the  murder,  and  Greorge  Crowningshield  and  Jo 
seph  J.  Knapp,  accessories. 

If  the  suicide  of  Richard  Crowningshield  before  the  com 
mencement  of  the  trial,  added  to  the  already  excited  state  of  the 
public  feeling,  the  unexpected  withdrawal  of  his  confession  by 
Joseph  J  Knapp,  and  his  refusal,  on  being  called  upon,  to 
testify,  had  no  tendency  to  allay  it. 

Mr.  Webster,  upon  the  request  of  the  prosecuting  officers 


172  CHAPTER    VIII. 

of  the  government,  appeared  as  counsel  and  assisted  in  the 
trial. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  his  argument  to  the  jury,  Mr.  Webster 
said — "  G-entlemen,  this  is  a  most  extraordinary  case.  ID 
some  respects,  it  has  hardly  a  precedent  anywhere  ;  certainly 
none  in  our  New  England  history.  This  bloody  drama  exhi 
bited  no  suddenly  excited  ungovernable  rage.  The  actors  in 
it  were  not  surprised  by  any  lion-like  temptation  springing 
upon  their  virtue  and  overcoming  it,  before  resistance  could 
begin.  Nor  did  they  do  the  deed,  to  glut  savage  vengeance, 
or  satiate  long  settled  and  deadly  hate.  It  was  a  cool,  calcu 
lating,  money-making  murder.  It  was  all '  hire  and  salary, 
not  revenge.'  It  was  the  weighing  of  money  against  life 
the  counting  out  of  so  many  pieces  of  silver,  against  so  many 
ounces  of  blood." 

In  speaking  of  the  supposed  self-congratulation  of  the  mur 
derer,  as  he  escapes,  unseen  by  human  eye,  after  the  perpe 
tration  of  the  deed,  Mr.  "Webster  describes  the  danger  of  a 
fatal  secret  in  language  that  makes  the  reader  almost  feel  the 
consciousness  of  guilt  himself.  "  It  is  accomplished.  The 
deed  is  done.  The  assassin  retreats  ;  retraces  his  steps  to  the 
window,  passes  out  through  it  as  he  came  in,  and  escapes. 
He  has  done  the  murder.  No  eye  has  seen  him,  no  ear  has 
heard  him.  The  secret  is  his  ownj  and  it  is  safe  ' 

"  Ah  !  gentlemen,  that  was  a  dreadful  mistake.  Such  a 
pecret  cnn  be  safe  nowhere.  The  whole  creation  of  God  has 
neither  nook  nor  corner  where  the  guilty  can  bestow  it,  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  173 

flay  it  is  safe.  Not  to  speak  of  that  eye  which  glances  through 
all  disguises,  and  beholds  everything  as  in  the  splendor  ot 
noon,  such  secrets  of  guilt  are  never  safe  from  detection,  even 
by  men.  True  it  is,  generally  speaking,  that  c  murder  wil] 
out.'  True  it  is,  that  Providence  hath  so  ordained,  and  doth 
so  govern  things,  that  those  who  break  the  law  of  heaven,  by 
shedding  man's  blood,  seldom  succeed  in  avoiding  discovery 
A  thousand  eyes  turn  at  once  to  explore  every  man,  every  thing, 
every  circumstance,  connected  with  the  time  and  place ;  a 
thousand  ears  catch  every  whisper  ;  a  thousand  excited  minds 
intensely  dwell  on  the  scene,  shedding  all  their  light,  and 
ready  to  kindle  the  slightest  circumstance  into  a  blaze  of  dis 
covery  Meanwhile  the  guilty  soul  cannot  keep  its  own 
secret.  It  is  false  to  itself ;  or  rather,  it  feels  an  irresistible 
impulse  of  conscience  to  be  true  to  itself.  It  labors  under  its 
guilty  possession,  and  knows  not  what  to  do  with  it.  The 
human  heart  was  not  made  for  the  residence  of  such  an  in 
habitant.  It  finds  itself  preyed  upon  by  a  torment  which  iu 
does  not  acknowledge  to  Grod  nor  man.  A  vulture  is  devour 
ing  it,  and  it  can  ask  no  sympathy  or  assistance,  either  from 
heaven  or  earth.  The  secret  which  the  murderer  possesses 
soon  comes  to  possess  him ;  and,  like  the  evil  spirits  of  which 
we  read,  it  overcomes  him,  and  leads  him  whithersoever  it 
vill.  He  feels  it  beating  at  his  heart,  rising  to  his  throat,  and 
iemanding  disclosure.  He  thinks  the  whole  world  sees  it  in 
his  face,  reads  it  in  his  eyes,  and  almost  hears  its  workings  in 
the  very  silence  of  his  thoughts.  It  has  become  his  master. 


174  CHAPTER    VIII. 

It  betrays  his  discretion,  it  breaks  down  his  courage,  it  con 
quers  Iris  prudence.  When  suspicions,  from  without,  begin  to 
embarrass  him,  and  the  net  of  circumstance  to  entangle  him, 
the  fatal  secret  struggles  with  still  greater  violence  to  burst 
forth.  It  must  be  confessed  ;  it  will  be  confessed  ;  there  is  no 
refuge  from  confession  but  suicide,  and  suicide  is  confession." 

The  great  difficulty  Mr.  Webster  had  to  surmount  in  the 
case  was,  the  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  jury,  that  John  Fran 
cis  Knapp  was  present  in  the  vicinity  at  the  time  of  the  mur 
der,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and  abetting  it.  Richard 
Crowningshield  was  the  actual  perpetrator  of  the  murder ;  he 
alone  entered  the  house,  and  gave  the  old  man  his  death- 
wounds.  But,  by  his  own  act,  he  was  placed  beyond  the 
reach  of  an  earthly  tribunal ;  and,  unless  it  was  demonstrated 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  jury,  that,  on  the  night  of  the  mur 
der,  John  Francis  Knapp  was  aiding,  in  constructive  presence, 
the  accomplishment  of  the  deed,  and  thus  proved  a  principal 
to  it,  the  three  prisoners,  however  guilty  in  public  opinion  and 
in  fact,  must  have  been  discharged,  since  the  one  indicted  as 
principal  being  pronounced  innocent,  the  accessories  could  not 
of  course  have  been  convicted. 

The  admirable  ingenuity  of  argument  by  which  Mr.  Web 
ster  led  the  minds  of  the  jury  to  this  conclusion,  is  equal  to 
anything  of  the  kind  in  the  annals  of  the  profession.  The  in 
terpretation  he  gave  to  the  various  and  somewhat  contradic 
tory  evidence  upon  the  subject ;  the  manner  in  which  he  com 
bined  circumstances  at  first  seemingly  independent,  dove-tail- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  175 

ing  them  together  so  that  their  separation  appeared  impossible, 
and  the  full  solution  which  he  returned  to  the  suggested  doubts 
of  opposite  counsel,  in  regard  to  identity  of  person,  &c., 
rendered  Knapp's  guilt,  in  the  opinion  of  the  jury,  a  matter 
not  merely  of  vehement  probability,  but  absolute  necessity. 

He  was  convicted,  and  his  associates  also. 

The  history  of  the  murder  is  a  singular  one  ;  and,  were  it 
not  that  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction,  would  hardly  be  credit 
ed  in  all  of  its  details. 

The  first  conception  of  the  murder  arose,  it  is  said,  from 
the  conversation  and  character  of  the  victim.  The  idea  of 
murder  was  not  native  to  those  who  plotted  it ;  but  from  their 
education,  position,  and  associations,  was  abhorrent  to  their 
minds.  They  had  led  somewhat  extravagant  and  reckless 
lives,  it  is  true,  but  nothing  had  been  imputed  to  them  indica 
tive  of  cruel  dispositions  or  hardened  consciences.  Their 
victim,  in  his  familiar  conversation,  to  which  of  course  they 
were  admitted — the  Knapps  at  least — was  accustomed  to 
speak,  with  some  carelessness  of  expression,  of  things  worthy 
of  reverence ;  to  profess  a  doubt  of  eternal  life,  and  a  reckless 
impatience  of  this  tedious  existence.  J.  J.  Knapp,  and 
others,  often  listening  to  such  talk,  began  to  think  of  indulg 
ing  the  wishes  of  the  speaker,  and  finally  came  to  the  conclu 
sion,  that,  as  he  stood  shivering  on  the  brink,  seemingly  desi 
rous,  yet  fearing  to  plunge,  it  would  be  no  unkindness  in  them 
to  afford  him  a  little  aid. 

The  murier   was  committed  through  a   mistake   of  law 


176  CHAPTER    VIII. 

Some  weeks  previous  to  it,  Joseph.  Knapp  applied  to  a  lawyer 
to  ascertain  the  law  as  to  the  distribution  of  the  estate  of  the 
old  gentleman,  in  case  he  should  die  intestate.  The  lawyer 
advised  him,  that  the  estate  would  descend  to  his  nephews  and 
neices,  his  next  of  kin,  per  stirpes,  and  noiper  capita  ;  Knapp 
thence  concluded  that  his  mother-in-law,  who  was  a  neice  of 
the  old  gentleman,  and  sole  representative  of  one  of  the  two 
branches,  would  inherit  half  the  estate,  which  was  very  large, 
and  that  in  consequence,  it  was  a  matter  of  great  moment  that 
he  (Mr.  White)  should  die  and  leave  no  will. 

The  murder  was  committed  too,  through  a  mistake  of  fact, 
for  though  the  murderers  got  a  will,  it  was  not  the  will.  The 
one  destroyed  was  made  sometime  before  the  murder  ;  another 
was  found  after  the  murder,  bequeathing  the  mass  of  the  pro 
perty  to  the  other  branch  of  the  family.  This  circumstance, 
of  Knapp's  not  being  benefited  by  the  murder,  for  some 
time  averted  the  suspicion  of  his  being  engaged  in  it.  But 
when  it  had  been  ascertained  that  he  was  a  party  to  it,  his  ig 
norance  of  the  existence  of  the  second  will  solved  the  whole 
mystery,  revealed  the  motive  of  the  act. 

The  actual  murderer,  Richard  Crowningshield,  was  indicted, 
arrested  and  committed  to  close  confinement  in  prison,  on  the 
testimony  of  one  who  was  wholly  ignorant  of  the  truth  or 
falsehood  of  what  he  testified.  Hatch,  the  witness  against 
him,  was  a  felon  imprisoned  at  New  Bedford,  at  the  time  tho 
murder  was  committed  ;  he  falsely  pretended  to  be  able  to 
testify  to  material  facts.  Attorney-General  Morton,  at  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  177 

Supreme  Judicial  Court  which  sat  in  Essex,  a  few  weeks  after 
the  murder,  moved  for  a  Habeas  Corpus  ad  Testificandum, 
and  Hatch  was  carried  in  chains  to  Ipswich,  and  on  his  testi 
mony,  wholly  false,  a  bill  of  indictment  was  found  against 
Richard  Crowningsheld  and  three  other  persons,  who  were  ar 
rested  and  committed  for  trial. 

Richard  Crowningshielddid  not  despond  at  first  in  his  impri 
sonment,  because  he  knew  he  was  charged  with  the  crime  on 
false  testimony ;  but  a  month  after,  when  he  heard  that  some 
of  his  accomplices  had  turned  States'  evidence,  and  disclosed 
the  truth,  his  heart  failed  him,  as  he  contemplated  the  seem 
ing  desperateness  of  his  condition,  and  soon  abandoning  all  for 
lost,  he  committed  suicide,  to  escape  a  public  ignominious 
death ;  while  if  he  had  boldly  stood  the  chances  of  a  trial  be 
fore  a  jury,  he  needs  must  have  been  acquitted,  notwith 
standing  all  the  disclosures,  for  want  of  sufficient  legal  testi 
mony — the  disclosures,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  having 
been  mere  hearsay,  which  is  not,  technically,  evidence.  But, 
from  want  of  moral  courage,  he  committed  suicide,  and  sui 
cide  was  confession. 

Joseph  J.  Knapp,  it  will  be  recollected,  consented  at  one 
time  to  be  States'  evidence,  and  to  make  a  full  confession  of 
the  whole  truth  ;  had  he  remained  steadfast  to  this  compact 
with  the  government,  he  would  thereby  have  saved  his  own 
life,  and,  by  his  testimony,  acquitted  his  brother  Francis. 
His  testimony  would  have  proved  that  Francis  was  in  Brown- 
street — the  locale  of  the  murder — without  the  knowledge  and 


178  CHAPTER    VIII 

against  the  wishes  of  Kichard  Crowningshield,  and  that  his  sole 
purpose  in  going  there  was  to  ascertain  from  him,  historically, 
whether  the  deed  had  been  done.  It  was  proved  at  the  trial 
that  Francis  was  in  Brown-street  at  the  time  of  the  murder, 
and  the  jury  from  all  the  evidence,  and  in  the  absence  of  any 
proof  that  he  was  there  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  aid 
Hichard  Crowningshield,  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  he  was 
there  expressly  for  that  purpose  ;  and,  consequently,  found 
him  guilty  as  PRINCIPAL.  He  was  thus  convicted  for  want  of 
his  brother's  testimony.  But  this  very  confession  of  Joseph 
Knapp,  though  withdrawn  before  trial,  and  thus,  technically, 
ruled  out  of  court,  must  have  produced  some  influence  upon 
the  minds  of  the  jury  disastrous  to  the  defendants.  A  rule  of 
law  could  prevent  the  admission  of  the  testimony  into  court, 
but  not  into  the  minds  of  men.  This  confession  revealed 
certain  facts — admitted  as  evidence  through  the  person  to 
whom  they  were  made  known — such  as  the  concealment  of 
the  club  by  which  Crowningshield  perpetrated  the  murder,  and 
other  auxiliary  circumstances,  without  which  it  might  have 
been  difficult  to  have  obtained  conviction.  Thus,  by  his 
double  weakness — first  in  confessing,  and  then  retracting — 
Joseph  Knapp  accomplished  his  brother's  conviction  of  a 
crime  which  was  perpetrated  for  his  own  benefit. 

Some  censure  at  the  time  was  passed  upon  the  conduct  of 
the  defence.  The  eminent  counsel, it  was  thought,  committed 
the  fatal  error  of  bringing  forward  no  plan,  hypothesis  or 
theory  which  could  admit  of  the  innocence  of  the  accused, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  179 

but  contented  himself  rather  with  a  kind  of  guerilla  warfare, 
attacking  the  positions  or  witnesses  of  the  other  side,  in  a 
series  of  flying  skirmishes.  A  kind  of  defence,  which,  in 
criminal  cases,  never  has  succeeded,  and  probably  never  will. 

It  was  thought  also  at  the  time,  that  the  learned  counsel  for 
the  defence  betrayed  a  want  of  professional  equanimity,  if  not 
courtesy,  that  they  made  too  many  and  too  lachrymose  com 
plaints  of  the  professional  aid  the  prosecuting  officer  retained 
on  the  trial,  compelling  Mr.  "Webster  to  say  to  the  jury,  that, 
"  In  the  course  of  his  whole  life,  he  had  never  before  heard 
so  much  said  about  the  particular  counsel  who  happen  to  be 
employed ;  as  if  it  were  extraordinary  that  other  counsel  than 
the  usual  officers  of  the  government  should  be  assisting  in  the 
conducting  of  a  case  on  the  part  of  the  government."  And 
that  they  exhibited,  in  fine,  indications  of  too  captious  a 
spirit,  and  too  irascible  temperament. 

The  opinion  in  regard  to  the  management  of  the  prosecu 
tion  was  warmly  approbatory.  It  was,  indeed,  generally  ad 
mitted  that,  but  for  Mr.  Webster's  masterly  argument,  a  con 
viction  would  never  have  been  procured  against  the  prisoners. 
The  earnest  and  resistless  logic,  by  which  he  demonstrated  the 
necessity  of  their  guilt,  dispelled  the  doubts  which  had  hung 
over  the  case  from  complicated  and  contradictory  evidence. 
Their  moral  guilt  might  have  been  suspected,  their  legal  guilt, 
without  him,  could  not  have  been  established. 

The  closing  words  of  his  argument,  in  which  he  reminds  the 
jury  of  the  obligation  they  were  under  to  discharge  their  duty, 


180  CHAPTER    VIII. 

have  been  quoted  before,  but  may  not  be  unworthy  of  repeti 
tion  here  :  "  A  sense  of  duty  pursues  us  ever.  It  is  omni 
present,  like  the  Deity.  If  we  take  to  ourselves  the  wings  of 
the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  utmost  parts  of  the  sea,  duty 
performed,  or  duty  violated,  is  still  with  us,  for  our  happiness 
or  our  misery.  If  we  say  the  darkness  shall  cover  us,  in  the 
darkness  as  in  the  light,  our  obligations  are  yet  with  us.  We 
cannot  escape  their  power,  nor  fly  from  their  presence.  They 
are  with  us  in  this  life,  will  be  with  us  at  its  close  ;  and,  in  that 
scene  of  inconceivable  solemnity,  which  lies  yet  farther  on 
ward,  we  shall  still  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  the  conscious 
ness  of  duty,  to  pain  us  wherever  it  has  been  violated,  and  to 
console  us,  so  far  as  God  may  have  given  us  grace  to  perform 
it." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SOON  after  the  reply  to  Hayne,  the  principles  of  constitu 
tional  law  evolved  therefrom,  were  put  to  the  severest  test. 
The  fatal  doctrine  of  nullification,  brought  boldly  forward  in 
Colonel  Hayne's  argument,  for  the  first  time,  gained,  during 
the  two  years  that  followed,  a  strength,  and  following  in  a  cer 
tain  section,  sufficient  to  create  a  feeling  of  sincere  apprehen 
sion  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  Union. 

The  motives  of  actors  we  can  judge  of  solely  from  their 
revelation  in  deeds.  There  is  no  process,  moral  or  legal,  to 
reach  the  conscience.  As  does  a  man,  so,  to  all  possible  un 
derstanding,  he  thinks.  The  reasons  assigned,  so  liberally  and 
authoritatively  at  times,  for  the  conduct  of  public  men,  by  the 
historian  or  biographer,  are  those  rather  of  the  writer  than 
actor,  in  a  generality  of  cases. 

The  narrator  can  give  facts,  from  which  each  intelligent 
reader  for  himself  is  able  to  draw  satisfactory  conclusions. 

"Within  a  year  of  the  famous  controversy  between  Mr.  Web 
ster  and  Colonel  Hayne,  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  Mr.  Forsyth, 
availing  themselves  of  the  fortuitous  circumstance  of  a  femi- 


182 

nine  quarrel  in  General  Jackson's  cabinet,  to  ensure  a  long- 
premeditated  intention,  produced  a  rupture  between  General 
Jackson  and  Mr.  Calhoun  ;  a  rupture  not  only  of  political  but 
personal  relations,  and  of  extremer  virulence  from  the  pre 
ceding  intimacy.  General  Jackson,  alike  violent  in  enmity 
and  friendship,  began  now  to  cherish  and  express  feelings  of 
deadly  hatred  towards  his  associate  in  the  government. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  necessarily  precipitated  into  opposition  to 
his  former  political  friends.  He  could  not  remain  in  the  De- 
mpcratic  party  against  General  Jackson.  There  was  no 
catholicity  unrecognized  by  the  head  of  the  faith.  Himself 
and  friends,  therefore,  found  themselves  in  compulsory  hostil 
ity  to  the  administration.  This  hostility,  originally  personal, 
became  soon,  by  the  operation  of  natural  causes,  one  of  mea 
sures  and  principle.  To  those  who  are  not  accustomed  to 
dwell  upon  the  evolutions  of  politicians,  and  notice  with  what 
a  strange  rapidity  they  are  performed,  it  might  appear  no 
little  surprising  that  these  two  eminent  individuals,  on  taking 
their  latitude  after  the  somewhat  long  duration  of  their  personal 
conflict,  discovered  that  each  had  wandered  very  far  from  the 
course  in  which  he  had  been  moving,  and  in  entirely  oppo 
site  direction  the  one  to  the  other.  Up  to  the  accession  of 
Mr.  Adams  to  the  Presidency,  in  1825,  Mr.  Calhoun  had  been 
known  as  an  ardent,  sincere  and  efficient  advocate  of  the 
liberal  powers  of  the  general  government,  especially  as  re 
garded  the  institution  of  a  protective  tariff;  while  General 
Jackson,  except  in  Pennsylvania,  had  been  considered  as 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  183 

favoring,  at  least  in  heart,  the  theory  and  policy  of  Mr.  Craw 
ford,  the  leader  of  the  strict  constructionists.  But  now% 
their  positions  were  wholly  reversed  ;  Mr.  Calhoun  contending 
for  the  right  of  each  State  to  oppose  the  measures  of  the 
general  government,  even  to  nullification — General  Jackson 
insisting  upon  a  large  and  liberal  interpretation  of  the  Consti 
tution,  and  the  putting  down  of  resistance  to  the  exercise  of 
the  powers  it  grants,  by  the  force  of  the  general  government. 

The  controversy,  as  is  ever  the  case,  became  more  bitter  and 
violent,  from  the  former  friendship  between  the  two  most  dis 
tinguished  parties  to  it.  Notwithstanding  their  endeavors  to 
give  it  an  exclusive  character  of  principle,  it  could  not  but  be 
felt  there  was  in  it  great  personal  vindictiveuess.  No  terms  of 
reproach,  accusation  or  denunciation  were  spared  on  either 
hand,  by  the  friends  of  either  party  towards  their  opponents  ; 
Calhoun-men  and  Jackson-men  hated  each  other  with  a  hatred 
far  more  unsparing  than  either  felt  towards  their  late  political 
opponents. 

In  spite  of  the  defection  of  Mr.  Calhoun  and  hin  friends,' 
General  Jackson  was  re-elected  President,  in  the  fall  of  1832, 
by  a  large  majority  over  Mr.  Clay,  the  candidate  of  the  Op 
position — or,  "  National  Republicans,"  as  they  then  styled 
themselves — and  Mr.  Yan  Buren,  Vice-President ;  South 
Carolina  alone  of  the  Southern  Democratic  States,  withholding 
its  vote  from  the  candidates  of  the  Democratic  party. 

Immediately  upon  the  result  of  the  canvass,  the  people  of 
that  State,  urged  to  temporary  phrenzy  by  their  political 


184  CHAPTER    IX. 

leaders  in  and  out  of  Congress,  met  by  delegates  in  conven 
tion,  and  passed  what  they  called  an  ordinance,  establishing 
new  and  fundamental  principles.  This  convention  overthrew 
the  whole  revenue  system.  It  did  not  limit  itself  to  the  acts 
of  1828  or  1832,  but  adopted  a  solemn  declaration  that,  in 
their  State,  no  taxes  should  be  collected.  In  this  declaration 
they  stated  that  South  Carolina  had  thrown  herself  into  the 
breach,  and  would  stand  foremost  in  resistance  to  the  laws  of 
the  Union ;  and  they  solemnly  called  upon  the  citizens  of  the 
State  to  stand  by  the  principles  of  the  ORDINANCE.  The 
Legislature  of  the  State,  meeting  soon  after,  ratified  this  ordi 
nance,  and  declared  the  tariff  acts  unconstitutional,  and 
utterly  null  and  void.  It  passed  an  act  besides,  directing  the 
enlisting  and  enrollment  of  volunteers,  and  advised  all  the 
citizens  to  put  themselves  in  military  array. 

The  excitement  in  the  State  became  intense.  The  whole 
State  was  in  arms,  or  ready  to  be  so  at  a  moment's  warning. 
A  military  spirit  everywhere  prevailed.  The  blue  cockade 
with  the  Palmetto  button,  was  almost  universally  worn,  and 
musters  were  held  every  day.  The  city  of  Charleston  wore 
the  appearance  of  a  military  depot ;  and  it  was  generally  sup 
posed,  that  the  first  attempt  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws  of 
the  United  States,  would  produce  instantaneous  collision  be 
tween  the  forces  of  the  general  government  and  of  the  State. 

General  Hayne  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  and  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State,  to 
meet  the  emergency  ;  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  resigning  his  office  as 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  185 

Vice-Presideut — three  months  before  its  constitutional  expira 
tion — succeeded  General  Hayne  in  the  Senate. 

The  state  of  public  affairs  threatened  a  fatal  crisis.  Gene 
ral  Jackson,  unterrified  by  the  belligerent  appearance  of  South 
Carolina,  determined  to  enforce  the  law,  at  every  hazard. 
His  cabinet,  indeed,  maintained  a  profound  silence  in  regard 
to  his  intentions  ;  but  some  of  his  most  intimate  friends  an 
nounced  that  he  would  immediately  employ  the  naval  force  of 
the  country,  and  blockade  Charleston.  Everywhere,  throughout 
the  country,  an  anxious  feverish  apprehension  of  some  immediate 
catastrophe  agitated  the  minds  of  men. 

Early  in  December  Congress  met.  The  vacant  chair  was 
filled  by  the  election  of  Hugh  L.  White,  of  Tennessee,  as 
President  of  the  Senate,  on  the  fifth  ballot,  by  a  vote  of  seven 
teen  to  fourteen  for  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia.  The  Senate 
was  composed  as  follows  : 

Maine — John  Holmes,  Peleg  Sprague. 

New  Hampshire — Samuel  Bell,  Isaac  Hill. 

Massachusetts — Nathaniel  Silsbee,  Daniel  Webster. 

Rhode  Island — N.  R.  Knight,  Asher  Robbins. 

Connecticut — Samuel  A.  Foot,  Gid.  Tomlinson. 

New  York— Charles  E.  Dudley,  Silas  Wright. 

New  Jersey — Mahlon  Dickerson,  Theo.  Frelinghuysen. 

Pennsylvania—' -Q-eo.  M.  Dallas,  Wm.  Wilkins. 

Delaware-^- John  M.  Clayton,  Arnold  Naudain. 

Maryland — Ezekiel  F.  Chambers,  Samuel  Smith. 

Virginia — John  Tyler,  William  C.  Rives. 
9 


186  CHAPTER    IX. 

North  Carolina — Bedford  Brown,  Willie  P.  Mangum. 

South  Carolina — Stephen  D.  Miller,  John  C.  Oalhoun 

Georgia — Geo.  M.  Troup,  John  Forsyth. 

Kentucky — G-eo.  M.  Bibb,  Henry  Clay. 

Tennessee — Felix  Grundy,  Hugh  L.  White. 

Ohio — Thomas  Ewing,  Benjamin  Buggies. 

Louisiana — Josiah  S.  Johnston,  G-eo.  A.  Waggaman. 

Indiana — William  Hendricks,  John  Tipton. 

Mississippi — Greo.  Poindexter,  John  Black. 

Illinois — Elias  K.  Kane,  John  M.  Robinson. 

Alabama — William  R.  King,  Gabriel  Moore. 

Missouri — Thos  H.  Benton,  Alexander  Buckner. 

Many  of  these  names  have  an  "  odor  of  nationality"  about 
them  ;  and  all  of  them  are  transcribed  here,  in  order  that 
those  not  great  in  themselves  may  afford  relief  to  the  others' 
greatness. 

Mr.  Calhoun  did  not  arrive  in  time  to  be  present  at  the 
opening  of  the  Senate.  His  arrival  was  awaited  with  no 
little  impatience.  Some  apprehension  was  entertained  that 
he  would  be  arrested  on  his  way,  on  a  charge  of  treason  against 
the  government.  General  Jackson  had  indulged  in  a  threat 
of  that  kind  ;  and  those,  who  knew  he  seldom  threatened  but 
he  meant  to  do,  were  in  momentary  expectation  of  such  an 
event. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  appeared  General  Jackson's 
celebrated  proclamation  against  nullification  Probably,  no 
document  ever  issued  from  the  Executive  Department  which 


DAM  EL    WEBSTER.  187 

gave  rise  to  a  more  profound  sensation.  It  confounded  alike 
friend  and  foe  of  the  administration.  This  State  paper  was 
the  production  of  Mr.  Livingston,  then  Secretary  of  State, 
though  it  bears  in  many  pages  marks  of  General  Jackson'? 
dictation.  His  will  penetrates  every  sentence  of  it.  Mr. 
Webster,  in  the  preceding  October,  in  a  speech  at  Worcester. 
Massachusetts,  had  reproached  the  administration  for  having 
done  nothing  and  said  nothing,  to  arrest  the  revolutionary 
doctrines  of  nullification.  In  this  speech  we  had  recapitulated 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  general  government,  as  pre 
viously  defined  in  his  reply  to  Hayne,  and  urged  the  necessity 
of  their  exercise.  But  at  the  same  time,  and  in  equally  forci 
ble  language,  he  took  ground  against  the  employment  of  mili 
tary  force.  "  For  one" — he  said — "  I  raise  my  voice  before 
hand  against  the  unauthorized  employment  of  military  power, 
and  against  superseding  the  authority  of  the  laws,  by  an 
armed  force,  under  the  pretence  of  putting  down  nullification. 
The  ^resident  has  no  authority  to  blockade  Charleston  ;  the 
President  has  no  authority  to  employ  military  force  till  he 
shall  be  duly  required  so  to  do  by  law  and  by  the  civil  autho 
rities.  His  duty  is  to  cause  the  laws  to  be  executed.  His 
duty  is  to  support  the  civil  authority.  His  duty  is,  if  the  laws 
be  resisted,  to  employ  the  military  force  of  the  country,  if  ne- 
sessary,  for  their  support  and  execution  ;  but  to  do  all  this  in 
compliance  only  with  law,  and  with  decisions  of  the  tribunals.'' 
Mr.  Webster,  on  his  way  to  Washington  in  December,  first 
heard  of  the  proclamation  in  New  Jersey,  from  a  traveller, 


188  CHAPTER    IX. 

unknown  to  him,  and  to  whom  he  also  was  unknown,  who  had 
just  left  the  metropolis.  This  person  told  him,  as  news,  that 
General  Jackson  vhad  just  issued  a  proclamation  against  nulli 
fication,  "  taken  altogether  from  Webster's  speech  at  Wor 
cester." 

There  certainly  is  a  resemblance — strange  indeed,  if  unin 
tentional — between,  not  the  sentiments  alone,  but  the  very 
language  of  these  two  productions. 

To  G-eneral  Jackson's  proclamation,  Governor  Hayne  issued 
a  counter-proclamation,  denouncing  the  attitude  of  the  gene 
ral  government   towards    the   State  of  South  Carolina,  anc. 
threatening  to  resist  to  the  last  extremity,  the  enforcement  of 
its  jurisdiction  over  the  citizens  of  the  State. 

The  "  crisis"  evidently  approached.  The  United  States' 
troops  were  concentrated,  in  some  force,  at  Augusta  and 
Charleston,  seemingly  for  the  purpose  of  repressing  any  in 
surrectionary  or  rebellious  movement  in  the  State ;  while  on 
the  other  side,  equal  preparation  was  made.  The  militia  in 
certain  sections  of  the  State  were  called  out  and  drilled, 
muskets  were  put  in  order,  swords  cleaned  and  sharpened,  and 
depots  of  provisions  and  supplies  established.  Officers,  na 
tives  of  the  State,  in  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States 
contemplated  resigning  their  commissions,  and  flying  to  the 
defence  of  the  State.  While  some  "foreign  officers,  then  in 
the  country,  actually  tendered  their  services  to  the  governor, 
against  the  forces  of  the  general  government. 

Such,  in  December,  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  South  Caro- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  189 

lina.  Civil  war  had  not  indeed  commenced,  and  yet  all  that 
seemed  wanting  to  bring  it  on,  was  but  a  forcible  demonstration 
from  either  party.  At  a  great  assembly  of  Nullifiers  in  Charles 
ton,  Mr.  Preston,  one  of  the  most  influential  among  them, 
said,  among  other  things  equally  portentous — "  There  are 
sixteen  thousand  back-countrymen  with  arms  in  their  hands 
and  cockades  in  their  hats,  ready  to  march  to  our  city  at  a 
moment's  warning,  to  defend  us  ;  and  the  moment  Congress 
shall  pass  the  laws  recommended  to  the  President  in  relation 
to  our  port,  I  will  pour  down  a  torrent  of  volunteers  that 
shall  sweep  the  myrmidons  of  the  tyrant  from  the  soil  of  Caro 
lina."  There  was  somewhat  of  bombast  in  this  language,  but, 
unfortunately  too,  somewhat  of  truth.  There  were  many  in 
South  Carolina  ready  and  even  eager  for  collision  with  the 
United  States  authorities. 

This  state  of  things  lasted  through  December,  keeping  the 
entire  country  in  constant  agitation.  In  the  meantime,  Mr. 
Calhoun  did  not  make  his  appearance  at  Washington  ;  his 
friends  said  that  he  remained  to  prevent  an  outbreak  in  South 
Carolina ;  his  enemies  that  he  feared  to  encounter  the  pre 
sence  of  General  Jackson. 

At  length,  the  news  of  his  departure  from  South  Carolina, 
and  of  his  progress  towards  the  metropc  lis,  reached  Washing 
ton,  the  latter  part  of  December.  At  .Raleigh,  North  Caro 
lina,  he  passed,  it  was  said,  New  Year's  day,  waited  upon  by 
large  crowds  of  people.  A  public  dinner,  on  the  part  of  the 
citizens,  was  offered  to,  and  urged  upon  him,  which  he  de- 


190  CHAPTER    IX. 

clined  on  the  ground  of  his  public  engagements.  Travellirg 
more  slowly,  than  in  these  days  of  steam,  his  approach  \vi.s 
heralded  from  one  place  to  another,  and  preparation  made  for 
his  reception.  Everywhere  he  was  met  with  respect,  even  in 
places  where  his  principles  were  obnoxious  and  his  course  cor.  - 
demned :  for  it  was  thought  he  was  honest  in  his  intentions. 
The  story  of  his  progress  through  North  Carolina  and  Virginia 
reaching  the  capital  before  him,  mitigated  to  a  degree  thj 
harshness  of  the  general  feeling  in  that  place  towards  hin  , 
and  prevented  any  hostile  demonstration,  if  such  had  been  in 
tended,  against  him. 

It  was  on  the  fourth  day  of  January,  1833,  he  took  his 
seat,  for  the  first  time,  as  Senator  of  the  United  States.  II 3 
had  presided,  as  Vice-President,  over  the  deliberations  of  th  3 
Senate  for  nearly  four  years,  but  had  never  been  otherwis*  a 
member  of  that  body. 

It  was  an  impressive  occasion.  The  Senate  was  crowded, 
to  witness  the  ceremony  of  his  taking  the  oath  of  office.  Ho 
walked  in,  slowly  and  deliberately,  to  his  seat.  Some  went 
up  to  him  and  tendered  their  congratulations  ;  but  many  of 
the  Senators  held  back.  With  his  State  almost  in  open  re 
bellion,  and  himself,  in  general  opinion,  its  most  turbulent 
agitator,  there  were  many  who  entertained  towards  him  any 
but  kind  feelings.  The  idea  of  disunion  was  then  a  monstrous 
and  unnatural  idea ;  it  had  not  become  familiarized,  and  all 
whose  language,  even  by  implication,  seemed  to  advocate  or 
tolerate  that  project,  were  held  in  abhorrence. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  191 

More  than  one  Senator  present,  to  whom  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's  assured  but  not  presumptuous  manner  seemed  .ike  a 
bold  defiance  of  opinion,  was  ready  to  exclaim,  in  the  words 
of  Cicero,  when  he  addressed  the  audacious  Cataline — 
"  Quousque  tandem  abutere  Catalina  patientiti,  nostrd  ?  quam- 
din  etiam  furor  iste  tuus  nos  eludet  ?  quern  ad  finem  sese 
effrenata  jactabit  audadaV  Certainly  the  presence  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  in  the  Senate  "  abused  their  patience,"  for  they  held 
their  seats  under  the  Constitution,  which  they  thought  he  me 
ditated  to  overthrow  ;  and  his  "  unbridled  audacity"  in  thrust 
ing  himself  into  a  body,  whose  action,  as  a  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  government,  his  measures  threatened  to  destroy,  ex 
cited  their  indignation. 

Still,  when  with  reverential  manner,  and  in  a  serious,  sol 
emn,  and  audible  voice  he  took  the  oath  to  support  the  CON 
STITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  opinion  softened  towards 
him  ;  and  many  who  had  foreborne  to  accost  him  earlier  now 
came  forward,  and  with  great  sincerity,  welcomed  him  to  the 
Senate.  He  took  all  in  good  part ;  reciprocated  the  compli 
ments  he  received,  and  concurred  with  others  in  the  hope  of 
harmonious  legislation. 

But  all  who  had  the  fear  or  love  of  Gen.  Jackson  before 
their  eyes,  hated  or  professed  to  hate  the  southern  chieftain. 
The  thunders  of  the  White  House  terrified  as  much  in  these 
days,  as  ever  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican ;  no  man  would  en 
counter  them,  unless  for  a  purpose  most  safely  and  selfishly 
advantageous.  The  Jackson-men  proper,  were  the  most  vio- 


192  CHAPTER    IX. 

lent  of  the  anti-Calhoun  men.  The  Jackson  press  denounced 
him  with  less  measured  invective,  than  even  his  most  preju 
diced  political  opponents ;— and  the  high-way  to  the  old 
General's  heart  was  supposed  to  be  abuse  of  Mr.  Calhoun. 

But  all  moved  him  not ;  neither  foreign  defiance,  "  malice 
domestic,"  nor  executive  denunciation.  The  certainty  of  an 
overwhelming  opposition  to  his  cause,  the  clamor  of  an  abusive 
press,  the  menace  even  of  personal  outrage — none  frightened 
him  from  his  propriety  of  word  or  action.  He  looked  and 
bore  himself  "  every  inch"  A  MAN.  They  who  disapproved 
most  his  theories  or  his  acts,  could  not  but  admire  his  noble 
and  undaunted  bearing,  or  refuse  him  honesty  of  intention. 
His  friends  would  have  applied  the  eloquent  language  of  the 
Roman  poet  to  his  conduct. 

"  Justum  et  tenacem  propositi  virum, 
Non  civium  ardor  prava  jubentium 
Non  vultus  instantis  Tyranni 
Mente  quatit  solida." 

Mr.  Calhoun,  still  new  to  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  entered 
upon  action  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  his  State  ;  a  few  days 
after  his  appearance,  he  introduced  a  resolution,  calling  upon 
the  President  for  copies  of  his  Proclamation  of  the  10th  De 
cember,  and  Governor  Hayne's  counter-proclamation.  These 
being  communicated  to  the  Senate  on  the  16th  of  January, 
Mr.  Calhoun  took  the  floor,  and  attacked  with  no  little  warmth 
of  language  the  principles  of  the  President's  proclamation. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  193 

"  The  cry  had  been  raised,"  he  said,  "  that  the  Union  was  in 
danger.  I  know  of  no  other  danger  than  that  of  military  des 
potism — I  will  proclaim  it  on  this  floor,  that  this  is  the 
greatest  danger  with  which  the  Union  is  menaced — a  danger 
the  greatest  which  any  country  has  to  apprehend." 

Mr.  Forsyth  rose  to  interrupt  him.  He  said  that  on  a 
motion  to  refer  (Mr.  Grundy  having  made  a  motion  to  that 
effect)  all  observations  on  the  merits  of  the  President's  message 
were  irrelevant  and  irregular. 

Mr.  Calhoun  replied  that  he  had  so  stated  in  the  outset  of 
his  remarks,  but,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  situation, 
had  hoped  and  requested  for  a  few  minutes  the  indulgence  of 
the  Senate. 

After  the  interchange  of  some  explanatory  remarks  between 
these  two  gentlemen,  the  motion  to  refer  was  carried,  and 
thereupon  the  Senate  adjourned. 

On  Monday  the  21st  of  January,  Mr.  "Wilkins  a  Senator 
from  Pennsylvania,  introduced  from  the  committee  on  the  ju 
diciary,  of  which  he  was  chairman,  a  bill  further  to  provide  for 
the  collection  of  duties  on  imports.  This  was  the  famous 
"Force  Bill." 

It  seemed  to  partake  somewhat  of  the  character  of  the  decree 
passed  by  the  Senate  of  Rome,  in  political  emergencies,  "  vi- 
deant  cotisules,  ne  quid  res  publica  detriments  capiat^  the  con 
suls  should  take  care  that  the  republic  sustained  no  injury  ; 
investing  them  with  powers  unknown  to  peaceable  times.  It 

empowered  the  President  to  employ  the  naval  or  land  forces 
9* 


194  CHAPTER   IX. 

or  militia  of  the  United  States  to  put  down  any  armed  or 
riotous  assemblage  of  persons  resisting-  the  custom-house  offi 
cers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty,  or  in  any  manner  opposing 
the  execution  of  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States ;  limit 
ing  him  to  no  expenditure  of  money  for  the  purpose,  but  in- 
resting  him, — the  opponents  of  the  bill  contended, — with  full 
and  unquestionable  power  over  the  purse  and  sword.  Mr. 
Poindexter,  one  of  the  most  able  as  well  as  the  most  deter 
mined  enemies  to  the  measure,  declared,  that  if  the  title  of 
the  bill  corresponded  to  its  provisions,  it  might  be  designated 
as  "A  bill  to  repeal  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  vest  in  the  President  despotic  powers." 

Mr.  Calhoun  on  the  day  succeeding,  to  repel  the  assault  of 
the  Executive  as  he  considered  this  recommendation  of  the 
judiciary,  brought  forward  in  the  Senate  his  celebrated  resolu 
tions,  defining  the  powers  of  the  general  government,  of  which 
the  most  important  was  the  following :  "Resolved,  That  the 
people  of  the  several  States,  thus  united  by  the  constitutional 
compact,  in  forming  that  instrument,  and  in  creating  a  gene 
ral  government  to  carry  into  effect  the  objects  for  which  it  was 
formed,  delegated  to  that  government,  for  that  purpose,  cer 
tain  definite  powers,  to  be  exercised  jointly,  reserving  at  the 
same  time,  each  State  to  itself,  the  residuary  mass  of  powers, 
to  be  exercised  by  its  own  separate  government,  and  that  when 
ever  the  jreneral  government  assumes  the  exercise  of  powers 
not  delegated  by  the  compact,  its  acts  are  unauthorized,  and 
are  of  no  effect  ;  and  that  the  same  government  is  not  made 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  195 

the  final  judge  of  the  powers  delegated  to  it,  since  that  could 
make  its  discretion,  and  not  the  Constitution,  the  measure  of 
its  powers  ;  but  that,  as  in  all  other  cases  of  compact  among 
sovereign  parties,  without  any  common  judge,  each  has  an 
equal  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  the  infraction  as  of 
the  mode  and  measure  of  redress." 

He  introduced  these  resolutions  with  some  prefatory  remarks, 
in  terse,  condensed,  emphatic  language — the  beautiful  struc 
ture  of  which,  a  word  interpolated  or  withdrawn  would  deface 
if  not  destroy.  The  speech  was  not  long — in  duration,  not 
more  than  half  an  hour  ;  but  it  produced  a  greater  impression 

0 

than  volumes  of  ordinary  argument.  It  revealed  to  the  friends 
of  the  administration  the  character  of  the  enemy  with  whom 
they  would  be  compelled  to  contend ;  it  gave  them  to  under 
stand  that  in  the  conflict  which  was  hastily  approaching,  there 
could  be,  on  their  part,  no  reserved  strength  ;  that  all  was 
to  be  exerted,  and  all,  but  with  great  dexterity  and  energy,  in 
vain. 

Mr.  G-rundy,  the  "  next  friend"  to  the  President  in  the 
Senate,  undertook  the  conduct  of  the  bill  through  that  body. 
Passing  between  the  President  and  his  principal  adherents  in 
the  two  Houses,  he  matured,  in  frequent  consultation  with 
both  parties,  his  plan  of  operations.  Canvassing  the  Senate, 
he  found,  among  his  political  associates  there,  some  unchange 
ably  opposed  to  the  principles  and  recommendations  of  the 
bill.  Mangtim  and  Brown  of  North  Carolina,  Poindexter  of 
Mississippi,  Tyler  of  Virginia,  Bibb  of  Kentucky,  all  able 


196  CHAPTER    IX. 

debaters  and  hitherto  most  prominent  of  the  Democratic 
party,  threatened  to  oppose  the  passage  of  the  bill,  with 
all  the  strength  of  argument  and  skill  in  strategy  they  could 
command.  Executive  blandishments  and  executive  menace 
availed  naught  against  their  purpose.  They  entrenched  them 
selves  within  their  State  Eights'  principles,  as  Wellington  at 
Torres  Vedras. 

Nor  among  all  not  hostile  to  the  bill  was  there  great  warmth 
of  sentiment,  or  much  promise  of  earnest  co-operation,  in  its 
favor.  Colonel  Benton  even,  yielding  to  no  one  in  devotion 
to  the  person  and  fortunes  of  the  President,  seemed  to  doubt 
the  policy  of  dragooning  a  measure  through  the  two  Houses, 
upon  the  merits  of  which  the  party  was  so  irreconcileably 
divided  ;  an  internecine  war,  he  knew  full  well,  would  spring 
up  between  friends  upon  the  issue,  and  rage  with  fiercer  inten 
sity  than  between  hereditary  or  natural  foes.  He  was  at  this 
time,  besides,  on  terms  of  even  intimacy  with  Mr.  Calhoun, 
whose  ingenuous  character  and  transcendent  ability  he  omitted 
no  occasion  to  dwell  upon  in  enthusiastic  terms.  He  was  re 
luctant  to  be  brought  into  personal  conflict  with  one,  against 
whom  he  had  no  ground  of  individual  complaint ;  but  with 
whom,  on  the  contrary,  he  entertained  sentiments  in  regard  to 
political  action  and  theories,  so  nearly  homogeneous.  His  vote 
was  safe  for  the  bill,  but  he  was  not  prepared  to  take  an  active 
or  leading  part  in  securing  its  success. 

Others  promised  votes  and  all  the  influence,  personal  and 
political,  they  could  exert  in  support  of  the  measure  ;  some 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  197 

from  a  conviction  of  its  necessity,  and  some  from  devotion  tc 
the  party  or  to  General  Jackson — which  they  considered 
identical  ideas. 

But  a  numerical  majority  barely,  though  assured  beyond  a 
doubt,  was  not  all  the  administration  sought.  To  be  success 
ful  in  the  vote,  and  yet  worsted  in  the  argument,  would  be  a 
barren  victory ;  a  victory,  more  humiliating  and  even  more 
fatal,  than  an  honorable  defeat.  Before  the  great  tribunal  of 
PUBLIC  OPINION,  the  cause  was  to  be  argued  ;  and  upon  its 
decision,  and  not  upon  the  votes  of  complying  Congressmen, 
were  the  merits  of  the  question,  and  the  honesty,  and  ability, 
and  future  destiny  of  the  actors  to  be  determined.  From 
such  decision,  there  was  no  appeal ;  and  the  friends  of  the  ad 
ministration,  nervously  sensitive  of  the  importance  of  the  con 
test,  determined  to  spare  no  exertion  to  gain  a  favorable  ver 
dict.  It  was,  in  truth,  to  them,  a  life-and-death  struggle. 
Not  even  the  overwhelming  popularity  of  General  Jackson 
conld  long  have  upholdeu  his  administration  against  the  stun 
ning  effects  of  hostile  OPINION,  on  this  momentous  question. 

Yet  there  were  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  Senate,  who 
favored  the  bill,  some  of  distinguished  capacity,  of  whom  was 
Rives  of  Virginia,  deeply  versed  in  Constitutional  law  ;  a 
logician  of  much  astuteness,  an  earnest  and  fluent  debater, 
and  of  a  mind  too  liberal  and  too  comprehensive,  to  be  re 
stricted  to  the  contemplation  solely  of  isolated  abstractions  ; 
Dallas  of  Pennsylvania,  whom  forensic  training  and  natural 
talent  admirably  qualified  for  controversial  argument ;  Wilkins, 


198  CHAPTER    IX. 

also  of  Pennsylvania,  less  eminent  than  his  colleague  as  a 
lawyer  and  statesman,  but  of  no  inferior  parts  ;  Forsyth  of 
Georgia,  possessing  qualities  of  mind  as  extraordinary  in  their 
variety  as  their  several  excellence — a  wit,  ready  and  polished, 
that  loved  to  play  not  wound — an  imagination  ardent  but  well 
regulated — a  fancy,  expressive,  glowing,  and  chaste — a  me 
mory  tenacious  and  reliable — and  a  judgment  discriminating, 
profound  and  correct ;  GRUNDY  himself,  a  persuasive  speaker, 
of  an  imposing  presence  and  conciliatory  manner,  an  admira 
ble  tactitian  withal,  that  understood  and  could  regulate  the 
springs  of  action. 

But  all  the  combination  of  such  various  talents,  powerful  as 
it  was,  the  administration  felt  deeply  would  not  avail  against 
Mr.  Calhoun.  He  was  in  himself  equal  to  the  whole  strength 
the  administration  could  put  forth.  He  had  all  his  antagonists 
had,  and  more ;  more  vigor  of  thought  and  energy  of  expres 
sion,  a  greater  variety  and  depth  of  acquisition,  and  more 
knowledge  of  the  science  of  government ;  and,  above  all  these, 
a  power  of  analysis  and  combination,  which  could  resolve  the 
most  complex  ideas  into  their  original  elements,  and,  by  the 
process  of  generalization,  from  materials  thus  reduced  to  his 
will,  construct  one  harmonious  system  of  lofty  and  impregna 
ble  truths.  He  had  in  fine,  genius,  while  the  rest  had  but 
talent,  ]^owcver  eminent. 

In  this  great  crisis  of  the  party  and  the  country,  Mr 
Grundy  folt  that  it  was  necessary  to  seek  elsewhere  than  from 
his  political  associates.  His  eyes  were  turned  where  all  other 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  199 

eyes  were  turned.  There  was  but  one  man,  the  friends  of  the 
administration  felt,  who  could  rescue  the  government  and  the 
country  from  the  dangers  that  encompassed  and  threatened  to 
overwhelm  them.  And  he  of  all  men  was  the  person  they  had 
sought  most  to  injure. 

From  imperative  engagements  elsewhere,  Mr.  Webster  had 
been  but  little  time  in  the  Senate  during  the  earlier  discussion 
of  the  bill,  and  had  taken  no  part  in  it.  His  apparent  indif 
ference  to  its  fate  added  to  the  apprehensions  of  the  friends  of 
the  measure,  made  them  still  more  anxious  to  gain  his  sup 
port.  Democratic  members  of  both  houses  hung  round  his 
friends,  seeking  by  every  argument,  promise  or  entreaty  their 
favorable  influence  with  him — a  member  of  General  Jackson's 
cabinet  came  to  him  at  his  lodgings,  and  earnestly  besought 
him  to  take  the  lead  in  defence  of  the  measure — to  assume 
the  controlling  management  of  it,  and  to  suggest  whatever 
amendments  he  deemed  necessary.  It  was  indeed  full  time 
for  his  appearance.  The  South  Carolinian  Hector  was  pur 
suing  his  enemies  to  their  very  last  entrenchments,  threatening 
to  involve  in  one  common  ruin  the  administration,  the  Consti 
tution  and  the  country,  while  Achilles  was  absent  from  the 
battle. 

Mr.  Webster,  like  the  hero  of  the  Grecian  epic,  might  have 
listened  to  his  enemies  and  turned  an  unheeding  ear  to  the 
supplications  of  his  late  assailants.  He  might  have  "  fretted 
his  great  heart"  in  silence,  safe  in  his  haughty  isolation,  and 
left  his  enemies  to  perish. 


200  CHAPTER    IX. 

But  private  griefs,  nor  any  considerations  of  a  private  cha 
racter  ever  controlled  his  regard  for  the  public  interest ;  the 
one  has  been  with  him  at  all  times  postponed  to  the  other. 
In  the  present  case,  he  held  the  cause  of  the  administration, 
the  cause  of  the  constitution,  and  of  the  country — if  the  for 
mer  went  down  on  this  issue,  the  constitution  and  the 
country  would  go  down  with  it.  He  forgot,  therefore,  the 
contumelious  treatment  he  had  received,  forgot  the  injuries 
done  and  intended  him,  and  rallied  his  whole  strength  in  sup 
port  of  the  persons  to  whom,  for  the  time,  the  interests  of  his 
country  were  intrusted. 


CHAPTER   X. 

MR.  WILKINS  of  Pennsylvania,  who  introduced  the  bill, 
commenced  the  debate  upon  it.  He  opened  the  case  for  the 
government.  His  introductory  remarks  were  well  conceived 
and  expressed,  moderate  iir  tone,  and  pertinent.  He  was  not 
allowed  to  proceed,  however,  without  interruption.  Messrs. 
Calhoun  and  Miller  of  South  Carolina,  and  Poindexter  of 
Mississippi,  broke  in  upon  him  with  interrogatories,  explanations, 
and  denials,  continually,  during  the  first  day  of  his  speech. 
The  second  day  he  got  along  with  less  difficulty,  though  not 
uninterruptedly ;  Mr.  Calhoun  watching  every  word  that  fell 
from  him,  and  gainsaying  many.  "  The  moment,"  said  Mr. 
Wilkins,  "  we  fail  to  counteract  the  nullification  proceedings  of 
South  Carolina,  the  Union  is  dissolved ;  for,  in  this  govern 
ment  of  laws,  union  is  obedience,  and  obedience  is  union.  The 
moment  South  Carolina — 

Mr.  Calhoun,  interposing — "  Who  relies  upon  force  in  this 
controversy  ?  I  have  insisted  upon  it,  that  South  Carolina  re 
lied  altogether  on  civil  process,  and  that,  if  the  general  go 
vernment  resorts  to  force,  then  only  will  South  Carolina  rely 


202  CHAPTER    .\ 

upon  force.  If  force  Ibe  introduced  by  either  party,  upon  thai 
party  will  fall  the  responsibility." 

Mr.  "VVilkins — "  The  general  government  will  not  appeal,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  force.  It  will  appeal  to  the  patriotism  ci 
South  Carolina — to  that  magnanimity  of  which  she  boasts  so 
much" — 

Mr.  Calhoun,  with  some  asperity — "I  am  sorry  that  South 
Carolina  cannot  appeal  to  the  sense  of  justice  of  the  general 
government" — and  hereupon,  two  or  three  Senators  called  him 
to  order.  So  far  from  being  considered  laudable,  it  was  holdcn 
censurable  then  for  any  Senator  to  speak  in  objurgatory  terms 
of  the  general  government.  To  have  spoken  of  the  advan 
tages  of  separation  or  secession,  would  have  provoked  for  the 
offender,  the  indignation  or  contemptuous  pity  of  the  House, 
in  which  such  sentiments  were  proposed.  Twenty  years  before 
this,  in  1811,  when  a  distinguished  member  from  Massachu 
setts,  in  a  debate  on  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Louisiana, 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  used  these  expressions — 
"  If  this  bill  passes,  the  Union  is  virtually  dissolved  ;  and  it 
will  be  the  right  of  all,  and  the  indispensable  duty  of  some  of 
the  States,  to  prepare  definitely  for  a  separation — amicably, 
if  they  can,  forcibly,  if  they  must,"  the  Speaker,  Joseph 
B.  Varnum,  of  Massachusetts,  formerly  a  soldier  of  the  Re 
volution,  decided  that  it  was  not  in  order  to  use  words  in  de 
bate  which  threatened  the  stability  of  the  Union.  But  parlia 
mentary  manners  have  changed  since,  and  members  of  Con 
gress  now  threaten  disunion,  not  only  without  attracting  cen- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  203 

sure,  but  even  attention.     The  idea  no  less  than  the  word 
seems  to  have  become  endurable. 

Mr.  Wilkins  continued  and  concluded  his  speech  the  second 
day,  when  Mr.  Bibb  of  Kentucky,  took  the  floor.  His  ap 
pearance  gave  a  character  to  his  words.  He  retained  some 
what  of  the  old  school  in  his  manner  and  dress.  His  words, 
too,  were  selected  and  enunciated  with  great  particularity. 
But  though  formal,  his  manner  was  not  cold  ;  nor  was  his  lan 
guage,  though  precise,  without  force.  "  I  have  witnessed." 
he  said,  in  his  exordium — "  the  ragings  of  the  natural  ele 
ments,  when  the  blackening  clouds  gathered.  I  have  seen  the 
forked  flashes  blaze  u^r,u  the  mountain,  and  yet  the  rock  that 
decked  the  mountain's  brow,  and  defied  the  storm,  remained 
unscathed  by  the  lightnings  of  heaven.  I  have  heard  the 
clamoring  of  the  winds,  and  seen  the  proud  forest  bend  before 
the  majesty  of  nature.  In  the  fury  of  the  storm,  I  have  seen 
the  fond  mother  press  her  infant  to  her  bosom,  and  sigh,  with 
fearful  apprehension  that  her  husband  might  be  exposed,  house 
less,  '  to  bide  the  peltings  of  the  pitiless  storm.'  But,  in  the 
darkest  gloom  of  elemental  strife,  there  was  a  consolation  ;  for 
there  was  an  assurance  that  the  storm  would  cease  ;  that  the 
sun  would  again  shed  his  gladdening  rays,  on  herb,  tree,  fruit, 
and  flower,  displaying  the  charms  of  nature  in  renovated 
health  and  refreshened  verdure.  But  when,  in  the  storm  now 
gathering  in  the  political  horizon,  I  shall  hear  the  blast  of  a 
trumpet,  the  neighing  of  the  steeds,  the  noisy  drum,  the  re- 
soundings  of  the  heavy-toned,  fiery-mouthed  cannon  ;  when  I 


204  CHAPTER    X. 

shall  see  the  glittering  of  small  arms  ;  when  I  shall  read  the> 
proclamation  preparatory  to  mortal  strife  between  State  and 
State,  and  know  that  the  strife  is  in  fact  begun  '  in  all  the 
pride,  and  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  war,'  I  shall  then  des 
pair.  There  will  be  no  assurance  that  the  Constitution  will 
erect  its  proud  crest  above  the  struggling  hosts,  and  come  out 
unscathed  from  the  contest.  I  have  no  assurance  that  the 
Union  will  survive  the  carnage  and  embittered  feelings  en 
gendered  in  the  impious  war  of  child  against  parent,  brother 
against  brother."  This,  after  all,  seems  a  kind  of  speech 
that  occupies  the  debateable  ground  between  eloquence  and 
bathos  ;  a  decided  lurch  either  way  would  conclude  its  destiny 
A  man  without  ability  could  not  use  such  language  ;  a  man  of 
great  abilities  would  not. 

The  whole  of  his  first  day,  Mr.  Bibb  used  for  an  historical 
introduction  to  his  speech.  He  gave,  in  great  detail,  the  pro 
ceedings  of  States  antecedent  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  The  second  day  he  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the 
powers  of  the  general  government  under  the  Constitution  , 
and,  before  the  close  of  the  senatorial  day,  he  exhausted,  if 
not  the  subject,  his  audience  and  himself. 

He  gave  way  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  to  Mr. 
Poindexter,  who  moved  an  adjournment ;  but  the  Senate  re 
fused  to  adjourn.  Wherefore  Mr.  Buckner  of  Missouri, 
moved  to  postpone  the  further  consideration  of  the  bill,  and  to 
make  it  the  special  order  for  the  next  day. 

Mr.  Webster  rose  to  a  point  of  order.    The  gentleman  from 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  205 

Kentucky  had  given  way,  in  the  usual  manner,  to  a  motion  to 
adjourn.  Such  was  the  practice  of  the  Senate.  But  if  a 
gentleman  yielded  the  floor  for  any  other  motion,  he  yielded 
the  right  to  resume  it. 

Whereupon  Mr.  Poindexter  rose,  and  said,  with  some 
warmth  of  manner — "  It  must  be  apparent  to  the  Senate, 
that  the  question  now  before  the  Senate  is  one  of  the  greatest 
importance.  I  have  never  before  seen  a  disposition  manifest 
ed  by  this  body  to  refuse  to  a  member  an  opportunity  for 
rest  and  research,  in  order  to  enable  himself  to  close  his  argu 
ment  in  a  manner  which  would  be  satisfactory  to  himself  and 
the  country.  If  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  is  disposed 
to  speak  to  the  Senate  for  a  week,  I  will  always  vote  for  ad 
journment  when  requested." 

The  Chair  having  decided  that  if  a  Senator  yield  the  floor 
for  any  other  motion  than  a  motion  to  adjourn,  he  lost  the 
right  of  the  floor,  Mr.  Poindexter  made  another  unsuccessful 
motion  to  adjourn. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Bibb  rallied,  and  spoke  with  accustomed 
fluency  for  a  few  minutes,  when  the  Senate,  giving  way  to  a 
sense  of  weariness,  consented  to  adjourn. 

There  are  few  men,  of  however  eminent  ability,  who  can 
command  listening  senates  three  entire  days  in  succession, 
upon  one  subject.  Our  logomachies  astound  our  trans-Atlan 
tic  cotemporaries,  who  cannot  comprehend,  from  their  own 
experience,  our  protracted  debates.  The  discussion  of  a  bill 
in  the  British  Parliament  occasionally  outlasts  a  day's  or 


206  CHAPTER    X. 

night's  session ;  an  individual  speech,  never.  The  commence 
ment  and  conclusion  must  be  of  one  day  ;  the  unities  being 
as  strictly  observed  as  in  the  Greek  drama. 

The  experiment  with  us  of  long,  tedious  speeches  is  fatal  to 
the  ill-advised  perpetrator.  The  attention  wearies,  the  mind 
revolts,  at  such  atrocious  outrage  against  the  fitness  of  things. 
He  who  talks  much  performs  little. 

Mr.  Bibb's  third  day  speech  was  listened  to  but  from  cour 
tesy.  He  seemed  himself  finally  to  become  affected  by  the 
atmosphere  of  dullness  he  had  called  around  him,  and  hasten 
ed  to  a  close.  His  speech  evinced  much  judgment ;  and  it 
was  to  be  regretted  no  less  for  his  sake  than  for  others,  that 
he  had  not  exhibited  more  and  spoken  less. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  appropriated  all  the  rem 
nant  that  was  left  of  Mr.  Bibb's  third  day,  and  a  portion  of 
the  day  following.  His  argument  was  respectable,  not  bril 
liant.  "  We  rely,"  said  he,  "  upon  the  peaceful  energies  of 
our  institutions  ;  Europe,  on  the  thunder  of  her  cannon  and 
the  clangor  of  her  arms.  Poor  Holland  is  about  to  pay 
dearly  for  this  balance  of  power.  For  two  hundred  years  it 
has  deluged  Europe  with  blood.  Here  we  have  it  in  a  peace 
ful  tribunal,  by  which  the  tranquillity  of  the  country  and  the 
safety  of  our  institutions  may  be  preserved  for  years  to  come. 
Just  and  certain  retribution  will  come  upon  those  who  destroy 
this  peaceful  arbiter,  and  set  up  the  sword  in  its  stead.  Here 
is  the  system,  sir,  as  I  understand  it,  as  I  honor  it,  and  as  I, 
with  my  latest  breath,  will  maintain  it.  I  regard  this  system 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  207 

as  by  far  the  greatest  political  blessing  ever  given  by  Provi 
dence  to  any  people.  To  it  I  trace  all  our  happiness  and  pros 
perity.  In  this  day  of  our  highest  prosperity,  when  our  foun 
tains  are  all  full,  and  our  streams  running  over,  do  not  let  a 
sister  State  rashly  overturn  the  institutions  which  are  the 
sources  of  our  happiness.  How  painful  is  the  crisis  which 
seeks  disunion,  and  which  would  split  us  up  into  disgraced  and 
bleeding  fragments.  This  nullification,  if  it  prevail,  will  yet 
meet  a  tremendous  retribution,  in  the  execrations  of  all  future 
times."  This  is  all  proper,  decent,  and  senatorial;  it  is  also 
just  to  the  character  of  its  author,  who  gained  as  much  in 
fluence  in  the  Senate  from  his  estimable  moral  qualities,  as 
from  his  intellectual  endowments. 

Mr.  Brown  of  North  Carolina,  followed  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 
and  took  his  stand,  he  said,  on  the  reserved  rights  of  States. 
"  I  repudiate  the  doctine  of  nullification.  I  repudiate  also  the 
high-toned  doctrine  of  the  Federal  party.  I  believe  it  is  to 
that  high-toned  doctrine  that  we  are  to  attribute  nullification." 
He  contended  that  it  was  by  an  improper  pressure  of  the 
federal  government  on  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  by  its 
exercise  of  doubtful  powers,  that  South  Carolina  hacf  been 
compelled  to  take  the  defiant  position  she  had  assumed ; 
which,  if  not  justifiable,  was  susceptible  of  great  palliation. 
"  Proud  as  I  am" — he  said  in  conclusion — "  of  the  achieve 
ments  which  have  been  performed  under  the  star-spangled 
banner  ;  proud  as  I  am  of  the  stars  and  stripes  which  have 
fluttered  in  every  sea  and  every  clime  ;  anxious  as  I  am  for 


CHAPTER    X. 


the  glory  of  the  country ;  yet  God  forbid  that  these  stars  and 
stripes,  which  have  been  heretofore  the  rallying  point  of  hero 
ism,  should  now  float  over  the  mangled  corses  of  our  bleeding 
countrymen.  God  forbid  that  our  country  should  undergo 
this  sad  and  disastrous  revolution ;  for  he  believed,  whenever 
that  should  take  place,  not  only  the  liberties  of  this  country, 
but  the  best  and  brightest  hopes  of  the  civilized  world,  would 
be  destroyed  for  ever." 

Mr.  Holmes,  of  Maine,  then  took  the  floor.  Mr.  Holmes 
would  have  been  considered  well  qualified  for  the  Senate,  had 
he  never  been  Senator ;  but  what  he  gained  in  position,  he  lost 
in  reputation.  His  bearing,  manner,  and  speech,  all  wanted 
dignity.  His  wit,  of  which  he  had  no  inconsiderable  portion, 
was  coarse,  and  even  vulgar ;  and  his  manner  too  often  de 
generated  into  buffoonery.  But  he  had  quickness  of  parts, 
and,  what  does  not  always  accompany  them,  a  retentive 
memory.  If  he  did  not  originate  much,  he  easily  apprehended 
the  merit  of  another's  speech,  and,  from  recollection  and 
power  of  combination,  was  able  to  fashion  one  of  his  own.  He 
was  good,  too,  at  repartee,  and  made  himself  formidable  to 
those  who  feared  his  ridicule. 

There  was  little  he  said  in  the  course  of  his  speech  on  this 
occasion  worthy  to  be  translated.  As  an  example  of  his  ar 
gumentative  manner,  the  following  passage  may  be  given: 
"  This  is  a  Constitutional  Government,  and,  therefore,  it  is 
sovereign  as  far  as  to  all  powers  delegated  to  it.  This  is  the 
general  understanding  of  the  people  ;  and  the  idea  of  nullifi- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  203 

cation  and  reserved  rights  is  almost  everywhere  ridiculed  by 
them.  I  saw  a  story  in  a  Tennessee  newspaper  which  I  will 
relate,  as  apposite.  A  law  of  that  State  respecting  marriage 
required  the  publication  of  the  banns  some  time  previous  to 
marriage.  The  time  appeared  too  long  to  one  individual,  and 
he  determined  to  oppose  the  law  and  set  himself  down  on  his 
reserved  rights.  The  law  did  not  prohibit  marriage,  which 
would  be  flatly  unconstitutional,  but  it  delayed  it,  and  was 
therefore  injurious.  He  accordingly  nullified  the  law." 

The  great  merit  of  Mr.  Holmes'  argum-ent  on  this  occasion 
was  its  brevity  ;  some  of  the  other  speeches  wanted  even  that. 

Mr.  Tyler  followed  Mr.  Holmes,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
question.  "  The  pernicious  doctrine,"  said  he,  "  that  this  is 
a  National  and  not  a  Federal  Government,  has  received  coun 
tenance  from  the  late  proclamation  and  message  of  the  Presi 
dent.  The  People  are  regarded  as  one  mass,  and  the  States 
as  constituting  one  nation.  I  desire  to  know  when  this 
chemical  process  occurred  ?  "When  were  the  States  welded 
together  in  one  mass  ?  Was  it  before  or  since  the  Revolution  ? 
At  what  time  was  Virginia  fused  into  an  integral  mass  with 

the  other  States  ? 

*  *  *  *  *  *  # 

This  amalgamating  doctrine  is  followed  out  into  most  sin 
gular  consequences  Sir,  it  is  said  that  I  do  not  represent  on 
this  floor  the  State  of  Virginia,  but  the  United  States.  Strange 
Hallucination !  This  I  must  consider  as  vital  in  its  conse 
quences.  It  brings  into  question  the  great  right  of  instructions ; 
10 


210  CHAPTER    X. 

for  if  it  be  true,  the  State  of  Delaware  has  as  full  and  absolutj 
control  over  my  actions  as  the  State  of  Virginia.  No,  sir,  [ 
repudiate  this  doctrine  ;  I  owe  no  responsibility,  politically 
speaking,  elsewhere  than  to  my  State  And  if  any  Senator 
from  that  State  should  dare  oppose  her  instructions,  I  might 
say,  with  perfect  confidence,  to  quote  the  remarks  of  one  of 
her  most  gifted  sons,  that  "if  he  would  not  be  instructed  ia 
his  seat,  he  would  very  soon  be  instructed  out  of  it."  The 
doctrine  is  founded  in  a  gross  misconception  of  the  nature  and 
character  of  our  institutions." 

This  speech  reflects  the  style  and  character  of  Mr.  Tyler — 
the  defects  and  merits  alike  of  both.  Occasionally,  there  will 
be  found  a  fitful  energy  of  expression  and  purpose,  but  close 
beside,  an  obscurity  of  phrase,  and  a  seeming  hesitation,  that 
throw  an  air  of  insincerity  upon  the  sentiments  uttered.  Great 
fluency  of  speech,  to  the  frequent  detriment  of  ideas — an  over 
flowing  of  historical  illustration,  to  the  partial  submersion  of 
the  subject-matter — forgetfulness  of  general  interests  in  the 
intense  contemplation  of  personal  objects — arguments  often 
without  conclusion,  and  conduct  often  without  motive — such 
seem  to  have  been  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  Mr. 
Tyler's  speech  and  public  life. 

His  argument  and  course,  on  this  eventful  occasion,  neither 
great  in  themselves,  were  the  causes  of  great  results.  They 
revealed  a  half-formed  inclination  to  secede  from  the  embodied 
idea  of  Democracy  ;  an  inclination  that  grew  into  a  purpose, 
and  thence  into  action,  within  a  brief  period,  to  such  a  (level- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  211 

opement,  that  the  Whigs,  a  few  years  after,  used  his  name  as 
leaven,  to  produce  fermentation  among  the  State  Rights'  con 
stituency  of  the  South.  The  fermentation  ensued,  and  the 
Whigs  gained  their  less  than  Phyrrus-victory*  of  1840. 

"  I  would,"  said  Mr.  Tyler,  in  his  peroration,  "  that  I  had 
but  moral  influence  enough  to  save  my  country  in  this  hour  oi 
peril.  If  I  know  myself,  I  would  peril  all,  everything  that  I 
hold  most  dear,  if  I  could  be  the  means  of  stilling  the  agitated 
billows.  I  have  no  such  power  ;  I  stand  here,  manacled  in  a 
minority,  whose  efforts  can  avail  but  little.  You,  who  arc  the 
majority,  have  the  destinies  of  the  country  in  your  hand.  If 
war  shall  grow  out  of  this  measure,  you  alone  are  responsible. 
I  will  wash  my  hands  of  the  business.  Rather  than  give  my 
aid,  I  would  surrender  my  station  here,  for  I  aspire  not  to 
imitate  the  rash  boy  who  sat  fire  to  the  Ephesian  dome.  No, 
sir,  I  will  lend  no  aid  to  the  passage  of  this  bill.  I  had  almost 
said  that  '  I  had  rather  be  a  dog  and  bay  the  moon  than  such 
a  Roman.'  I  will  not  yet  despair.  Rome  had  her  Curtius  ; 
Sparta  her  Leonidas  ;  and  Athens  her  band  of  devoted  pa 
triots  ; — and  shall  it  be  said  that  the  American  Senate  contains 
not  one  man  who  will  step  forward  to  rescue  his  country  in 
this  her  moment  of  peril  ?  Although  that  man  may  never 
wear  an  earthly  crown,  or  sway  an  earthly  sceptre,  eternal  fame 
shall  wreathe  an  evergreen  around  his  brow,  and  his  name 

*  "  Another  such  victory,  and  we  are  ruined,"  Phyrrus  said,  of  his 
triumph  over  the  Romans. 


212  CHAPTER    X. 

shall  rank  with  those  of  the  proudest  patriots  of  the  proude;  t 
climes." 

Mr.  Tyler  makes  a  liberal  use  of  Plutarch  in  his  speed 
There  are,  indeed,  more   Greeks  and   Romans   in   it   thai 
Americans.     It  is  a  fault  (or  virtue)  common  to  his  State.* 

Mr.  Clayton  followed,  and  ably  refuted,  Mr.  Tyler.  Ii 
answer  to  Mr.  Tyler's  declaration  that  he  was  a  Senator  cf 
Virginia,  and  not  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Clayton  said  : 
"  Sir,  were  it  not  for  sheer  compassion  towards  some  of  thos3 
gentlemen,  who  indulge  us  so  often  with  extravagant  declama 
tion  about  State  power  and  State  supremacy,  it  would  be  well 
to  ring  the  truth  daily  in  their  ears,  until  they  are  cured  of 
these  diseased  imaginations,  that  neither  the  "  Old  Dominion," 
nor  even  the  "  Empire  State"  herself,  could  singly,  and  sue- 

*  Gen  Harrison  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  received  his  education 
there.  To  his  last  day,  he  never  recovered  from  Plutarch.  His  Inau 
gural  Message  proves  the  duration  of  his  attachment.  Plutarch's  heroes 
would  have  appeared  therein  in  still  greater  number,  but  for  an  untimely 
fate  that  kept  them  out. 

It  was  said  at  the  time,  that  the  morning  before  the  Message  was  de 
livered,  the  Secretary  of  State  elect  was  met,  by  a  friend,  walking  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  White  House,  in  no  little  apparent  perturbation.  "  What 
is  the  matter  with  you,  this  morning,  Mr.  Webster  ?"  inquired  his  friend ; 
"you  seem  agitated."  "Agitated,  sir!  and  who  would  not  feel  agitated, 
that  had  committed  the  murder  I  have  this  morning  ?3)  "  Murder !  Mr. 
Webster  ?"  "  Aye,  sir,  murder ;  murder,  with  malice  aforethought,  of 
I  know  not  how  many  Greeks  and  Romans." 

There  is  no  authority,  however,  but  rumor  for  this  story. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  213 

eessfully,  measure  strength  with  one  of  the  second-rate  powers 
of  Europe.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  who  has  filled  his 
present  station  with  so  much  honor  to  himself  and  usefulness 
to  his  country,  denies  that  he  is  a  Senator  of  the  United  States, 
and  asserts  that  he  is  only  a  Senator  of  Virginia.  He  denies 
the  very  existence  of  such  a  character  as  that  of  a  Senator  of 
the  United  States.  JEach  member  here,  in  his  view,  is  bound 
to  legislate  for  his  own  State,  and  can  represent  no  other. 
But  where  is  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  recognizes  a 
Senator  of  Virginia,  of  Delaware,  or  of  any  other  single  State, 
in  this  hall  ?  This  is  not  the  Senate  of  Virginia,  but  of  the 
United  States.  The  honorable  member  says  he  acts  here  only 
in  obedience  to  the  wishes  of  Virginia  ;  that  he  yields  obedience 
to  this  Government  only  because  Virginia  wills  it.  The  Con 
stitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  have  no  binding  force 
with  him  from  any  other  cause  than  this,  that  Virginia  com 
mands  him  to  obey  them.  The  result  of  all  this  doctrine  is, 
that  whenever  Virginia  wills  it,  he  will  violate  this  Constitution, 
and  set  these  laws  at  defiance.  In  opposition  to  all  this,  hear 
the  creed  of  a  national  republican  :  I  obey  this  Constitution, 
and  act  as  Senator  of  the  United  States  under  it,  because  I 
have  sworn  to  support  that  Constitution.  I  hold  myself  bound, 
while  acting  in  my  station  here  to  legislate  for  the  benefit  of 
the  whole  country,  not  merely  for  that  of  any  section  of  it ; 
and,  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty,  I  will  look  abroad  throughout 
this  wide  Republic,  never  sacrificing  the  interests  of  any  one 
part  of  it  merely  to  gratify  another,  but  always  dealing  out 


214  CHAPTER    X. 

and  distributing  equal  justice  to  all  my  countrymen,  wherev3r 
they  may  be  located,  or  by  whatever  title  they  may  be  distin 
guished  from  each  other." 

The  eloquent  patriotism  of  these  and  kindred  remarks 
gained  Mr.  Clayton  deserved  consideration,  among  all  parties. 
The  liberality  of  his  views  was  no  greater,  in  the  meantim3, 
than  the  force  of  his  argument.  Oftentimes,  during  his  specc'.i, 
he  was  interrupted  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  sought  to  obviate  the 
effect  of  his  logic,  by  the  interposition  of  ingenious  objections. 

On  Mr.  Clayton's  conclusion,  Mr.  Mangum  obtained  tl  e 
floor,  and  moved  to  postpone  the  farther  consideration  of  tl  e 
bill  till  the  next  day.  He  wished  to  speak  upon  the  bill,  but 
was  too  unwell  this  day. 

The  Senate,  however,  did  not  wish  to  postpone  the  discus 
sion  of  the  bill.  The  majority  thought  its  immediate  passage 
necessary.  The  threatening  attitude  of  South  Carolina  was  to 
be  met  by  an  immediate  preparation  on  the  part  of  the  gene 
ral  government,  for  all  emergencies.  The  President's  particu 
lar  friends  in  the  Senate  urged  action.  Forsyth,  Grundy,  and 
Wilkins  contended  that  the  debate  should  go  on.  Mr.  Cal 
houn  said  that  the  Senator  from  North  Carolina  was  the  only 
member  of  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  who  had  objected 
to  the  bill.  He  would  appeal  to  the  Senate,  therefore,  whe 
ther,  on  the  score  of  justice,  the  gentleman  was  not  entitled 
to  such  indulgence  as  he  might  require  to  enable  him  to  give  a 
satisfactory  exposition  of  the  reasons  by  which  he  was  actuated, 
the  more  especially  as  he  appeared  so  unwell. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  215 

Mr.  Wilkins  replied  that  he  would  be  the  last  man  to  force 
the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  for  whom  he  had  a  great 
respect,  into  the  discussion  without  mature  preparation.  But 
he  thought  the  gentleman  was  fully  prepared  to  debate  the 
question  at  this  time. 

Mr.  Calhoun  said  that  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  could 
not  have  heard  the  Senator  from  North  Carolina  ask  the  post 
ponement  on  account  of  his  indisposition. 

Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  made  the  same  suggestion  ;  but  Mr 
Wilkins  replied  to  neither. 

Mr.  Wilkins,  in  truth,  displayed  great  eagerness  to  get  the 
bill  through  ;  and  some  said  at  the  time,  from  interested 
motives.  "  He  votes  for  this  great  measure,"  said  a  Senator 
in  this  debate,  "  because  it  confers  power  on  one,  c  who  never 
abused  power.'  He  goes  for  the  man,  and  sustains  the  prin 
ciple  for  the  sake  of  the  man."  He  afterwards  went  for  the 
mission  to  Russia,  and  got  it ;  as  the  opponents  of  this  bill 
contended,  for  his  ready  services  on  this  occasion.  But  de 
traction  is  as  inseparable  from  distinguished  merit,  as  the 
shadow  from  the  substance. 

The  intellectual  sparring  continued,  and  afforded  relief  to 
the  graver  discussion  of  the  bill.  Mr.  Webster  said  there 
was  no  occasion  for  postponement.  The  bill  could  make  pro 
gress,  and  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  could  be  heard 
on  any  other  day  as  well  as  this.  But  few  days  remained  of 
the  session,  and  if  the  bill  was  to  be  definitely  acted  upon,  it- 
could  only  be  done  by  a  determination  to  sit  out  the  discus- 


216  CHAPTER    X. 

sion.  The  Senate  should  sit  till  late  in  tLe  evening,  for  at 
the  rate  of  a  speech  a  day,  the  bill  would  never  be  got  through. 

Mr.  Calhoun  replied,  that  if  any  other  Senator,  on  either 
side  of  the  house,  was  ready  to  go  on  with  the  debate,  he 
Would  make  no  objection  to  sit  out  the  day.  But  he  thought 
-ihe  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  was,  in  justice,  entitled  to 
the  indulgence  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  King  said,  that  if  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
wished  to  deliver  his  sentiments  on  the  bill,  he  hoped  the 
motion  would  be  withdrawn  for  that  purpose,  and  he  would  be 
happy  to  listen  to  the  gentleman  to  as  great  length  as  he  might 
desire. 

Mr.  Webster — "  The  gentleman  from  Alabama  is  ex 
tremely  kind ;  and  his  kindness  is  justly  appreciated.  The 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  fully  understands  the  gentle 
man  from  Alabama  ;  but  he  has  no  disposition  to  address  the 
Senate  at  present,  nor,  under  existing  circumstances,  at  any 
other  time,  on  the  subject  of  this  bill." 

The  argument,  thus  far,  Mr.  Webster  thought  pre 
ponderated  in  favor  of  the  bill.  His  aid,  therefore,  was  not 
called  for  ;  and  he  reserved  it  till  it  should  be  needed.  But 
the  friends  of  the  President,  ic  the  Senate,  who  watched  every 
word  and  movement  of  friend  and  foe,  were  alarmed,  fearing 
lukewarmness  on  his  part;  ind  some  left  their  seats,  and 
crossed  over  to  consult  with  him. 

The  motion  to  postpone  was  lost ;  and  Mr.  Manguni  took 
the  floor  on  the  bill.  But  after  proceeding  for  fifteen  minutes, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  2\\ 

or  thereabouts,  he  yielded  the  floor  to  Mr.  Pjiindexter,  whe 
moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn,  as  the  gentleman  from 
North  Carolina  was  evidently  too  much  indisposed  to  proceed. 
The  Senate,  however,  refused  to  adjourn,  and  Mr.  Mangum 
resumed  his  argument. 

He  drew  a  parallel  between  the  course  pursued  by  the 
British  Government  previous  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and 
that  which  was  now  pursued  by  the  General  Government 
against  South  Carolina ;  a  parallel,  however,  that  like  parallel 
Jines,  might  run  on  forever  without  meeting.  After  continuing 
in  this  strain  for  some  time,  Mr.  Mangum  again  gave  way  to 
Mr.  Sprague,  of  Maine,  who  moved  an  adjournment,  which 
was  lost  by  one  vote. 

Mr.  Mangum  recommenced  his  argument,  and  continued  it 
till  4  o'clock,  when  Mr.  Tyler,  premising  that  the  Senate  had 
by  this  time  sufficiently  indicated  its  intention  to  sit  till  a  late 
hour  every  afternoon,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  debate 
to  a  close,  moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn. 

Mr.  Webster  would  not  oppose  the  motion,  but  rose  to  give 
notice  that,  for  one,  he  should  vote  hereafter  against  any  mo 
tion  to  adjourn  before  six  o'clock,  till  the  bill  was  disposed  of. 

The  main  action  of  the  drama  was  relieved  by  occasional 
episodes,  as  in  the  Grecian  Epic,  where,  while  the  armies 
pause,  valiant  spirits  on  either  side  get  up  a  single  combat. 
Of  such  nature  was  the  passage-at-arms  between  Grundy  of 
Tennessee,  and  Poindextcr  of  Mississippi,  upon  the  subject  of 

the  military  orders  of  the  President.     The  most  intense  cu- 
10* 


218  CHAPTER    X. 

riosity  and  deepest  silence  prevailed  in  relation  to  the  Presi 
dent's  intentions  of  a  forcible  demonstration  against  South 
Carolina.  It  was  currently  reported  that  the  General  had 
ordered  a  portion  of  the  fleet  to  occupy  Charleston  harbor,  and 
had  given  instructions  of  a  belligerent  character  to  the  com 
mander  of  the  military  forces  at  and  near  Charleston.  Pom- 
dexter,  who  affected  to  assume  a  certain  kind  of  leadership  in 
the  debate  against  the  bill,  introduced  a  resolution,  calling 
upon  the  President  for  information  of  his  action  or  intentions 
He  had  been  an  early  Jackson-man,  but  had  ratted,  since  his 
election  to  the  Senate.  He  never  was  constant  to  a  man  or 
principle  long.  He  embraced  a  friendship  or  measure  witl 
vehemence  and  gave  them  up  with  precipitancy.  He  hated 
cordially,  and  enjoyed  the  faculty,  to  a  greater  extent  than 
almost  any  other  man,  of  inspiring  cordial  hatred.  All  he 
aimed  at  seemed  to  be  notoriety  ;  or,  if  he  sought  it  not,  it 
came  to  him,  gratuitously. 

Partly  to  indulge  this  passion,  and  partly  to  exasperate 
Gen.  Jackson — between  whom  and  himself  there  raged  a  per 
sonal  warfare,  bellum  plusquam  civile,  as  Lucan  has  it — he 
threw  this  resolution  into  the  Senate,  and  provoked  a  discus 
sion  with  Mr.  G-rundy,  against  whom,  as  the  nearest  friend  of 
the  President,  his  remarks  were  mostly  directed. 

He  said,  that  when  the  day  before  he  introduced  the  resolu 
tion,  he  thought  he  had  placed  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee 
in  an  awkward  predicament,  and  now  he  was  sure  of  it.  The 
gentleman  and  his  friends,  after  havir^r  consulted  their  pillows. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  219 

had  come  to  the  Senate  with  a  determination  to  destroy  his 
resolution,  if  in  their  power  to  do  so.  He  was  sorry  to  see 
this  opposition  to  his  motion  ;  it  seemed  to  be  indicative  of  a 
disposition  to  shroud  in  secrecy  the  movements  of  the  Execu 
tive  authority.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  there  was  a  drawing-room 
last  night,  and  great  anxiety  was  manifested  on  the  part  of 
some  gentlemen,  to  get  the  ear  of  the  President." 

Mr.  Grundy  did  not  pretend  to  understand  what  the  gentle 
man  from  Mississippi  meant  by  his  -allusion  to  the  drawing- 
room.  He  could  approach  the  President  as  one  of  his  consti 
tutional  advisers,  and  was  not  obliged  to  take  advantage  of  the 
social  character  of  the  drawing-room,  to  reach  his  ear. 

In  regard  to  the  information  the  Senator  from  Mississippi 
sought,  he  would  suppose  some  most  respectable  citizens  of 
South  Carolina  had  communicated  intelligence  to  the  Execu 
tive,  upon  which  secret  orders  had  been  issued  ;  does  the 
Senator  ask  the  names  of  these  citizens,  and  all  the  circum 
stances  of  their  disclosures  ? 

"  All,  all !"  said  Mr.  Poindexter  ;  "  the  whole  of  them." 

"  But  would  not  such  disclosure,"  asked  Mr.  Grrundy, "  lead 
to  the  immediate  shedding  of  blood  ?" 

"  I  care  not  if  it  does,"  replied  Mr.  Poindexter.  "  Let  us 
have  the  information,  no  matter  what  are  the  consequences." 

But  Mr.  Grrundy  was  not  disposed  to  gratify  the  truculent 
curiosity  of  the  Senator  from  Mississippi,  and  after  some  good- 
natured  bantering  on  his  part,  and  the  expression  of  some  more 
indignation  on  the  part  of  the  Mississippian,  the  discussion  wa.s 


220  CHAPTER    X. 

cut  short  by  the  action  of  the  Senate,  in  taking  up  the  special 
order  of  the  day. 

Of  the  nature  of  an  episode,  too,  was  the  scene  that  occurred 
when  Mr.  Webster  undertook  to  prove  that  the  bill  and  the 
message  of  the  President  contained  the  same  identical  recom 
mendations  ;  and  that,  consequently,  anathemas  instead  of 
being  confined  to  the  first,  should  be  directed  equally  against 
the  latter. 

A  warm  controversy  had  risen  on  the  measure,  he  said, 
and  it  was  but  proper  to  understand  between  what  parties  it 
existed. 

Soon  after  the  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States 
against  England,  an  American  vessel  fell  in  at  sea  with  one  of 
England,  and  gave  information  of  the  declaration.  The  En 
glish  master  inquired,  with  no  little  warmth  of  manner  and 
expression,  why  the  United  States  had  gone  to  war  with  En 
gland  ?  The  American  answered  him,  that  difficulties  had 
existed,  for  a  good  while,  between  the  two  Governments,  and 
that  it  was  at  length  thought,  in  America,  to  be  high  time  for 
the  parties  to  come  to  a  better  understanding. 

"  I  incline  to  think,  Mr.  President,"  continued  Mr.  "Web 
ster,  "  that  a  war  has  broken  out  here,  which  is  very  likely, 
before  it  closes,  to  bring  the  parties  to  a  better  understanding. 
*  *  *  Now,  sir,  let  it  be  known,  once  for  all,  that  this  is 
an  Administration  measure ;  that  it  is  the  President's  own 
measure  ;  and  I  pray  gentlemen  to  have  the  goodness,  if  they 
call  it  hard  names,  and  talk  boldly  against  its  friends,  not  tc 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  221 

overlook  its  source.  Let  them  attack  it,  if  they  choose  to  at 
tack  it,  in  its  origin." 

Messrs.  Tyler,  Bibb,  and  Brown,  of  North  Carolina,  an 
swered  with  some  heat — the  latter  particularly — the  sugges 
tion  that  they  hesitated  to  denounce  the  message,  from  fear  of 
its  author.  Mr.  Tyler  said  it  was  not  the  first  time  he  had 
been  placed  in  opposition  to  measures  of  which  the  President 
was  the  source,  or  of  which  the  President  approved.  If  the 
President  has  sent  a  Botany  Bill,  he  would  call  it  so,  and  as 
such  oppose  it.  Mr.  Bibb  said,  if  the  President  desired  that 
any  such  power  should  be  given  him,  as  the  bill  before  them 
gave,  he  could  find  no  expression  of  such  desire  in  the  mes 
sage.  He  could  not  imagine  that  any  President  would  have 
the  daring  effrontery  to  ask  of  Congress  to  give  him  such 
powers.  Mr.  Brown  said,  he  had  never  looked  to  any  quarter 
for  instructions  in  regard  to  his  vote  on  this  bill,  neither  to 
the  President  nor  Judiciary  Committee — and  he  should  not. 

These  interludes — if  thus  they  may  be  called — added  much 
to  the  interest  of  the  main  piece.  They  gave  time,  too,  to 
the  actors  in  the  drama  to  better  prepare  their  parts,  to  study 
their  speeches,  arrange  their  dresses,  and — a  thing  not  unat 
tended  to  even  by  Senators — prepare  good  houses.  For 
Senators,  no  more  than  professional  actors,  love  not  to  appear 
to  "  empty  boxes." 

When  the  curtain  again  rose,  in  the  regular  piece,  Mr. 
Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  appeared,  and  spoke  his  speech 
>c  trippingly  on  the  tongue."  His  personal  appearance  aided 


222  CHAPTER    X 

him  no  little.  It  was,  punctually,  that  of  a  gentleman.  His 
rubicund  countenance,  surmounted  by  hair  white  as  the  snow- 
flakes,  bleached,  but  not  thinned  ;  his  elaborate  and  improving 
manner,  self-respecting  yot  not  presumptuous  ;  his  scrupulous 
dress,  subdued  voice,  and  harmonious  gesture,  all  bespoke  the 
man  of  cultivated  intellect  and  habits  ;  and,  in  an  assembly 
like  the  Senate  of  those  days,  could  not  fail  to  produce  an 
earnest  impression. 

His  language  was  consonant  with  his  manner  and  bearing  ; 
it  illustrated  both.  "Let  us,"  said  he,  "inquire  into  the 
nature  of  our  political  structure.  "What  is  this  political  be 
ing — the  Union,  commonly  styled  c  the  United  States  ?'  A 
consolidated  multitude  ?  Certainly  not  a  federation  merely  of 
totally  distinct  masses  of  people  ?  Certainly  not.  It  is  some 
thing  then  of  a  complicated  character  between  these  two,  or 
combining  them  both.  To  be  justly  appreciated,  it  must  be 
well  understood,  and  not  flimsily  considered.  Generalization 
and  vague  abstractions  delude  us,  and  necessarily  lead  to  false 
conclusions.  No  one  denies  or  doubts  that  the  Constitution 
was  formed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  ;  and  no  one 
denies  or  doubts  that  it  acts  directly  upon  the  people.  Its 
origin  and  action  are  therefore  popular  or  national.  But  was 
it  not  formed  by  the  people  as  distinct  aggregates  called  States 
in  their  sovereign  capacities  ?  Clearly  it  was.  And  is  it  not 
carried  on,  through  some  of  its  essential  processes,  by  the 
separate  States  as  sovereigns  ?  Clearly  it  is.  Its  origin  and 
action  are  then  federative.  Thus  it  is  both  popular  and  fcdo- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  226 

rative  ;  or,  in  other  words,  it  is  an  entire  national  government, 
of  which  both  the  union  and  the  distinctiveness  of  the  sove 
reign  States  are  fundamental  and  inherent  qualities." 

Mr.  Miller,  of  South  Carolina,  followed  Mr.  Dallas,  in  a 
speech  of  some  power,  against  the  bill ;  and  Mr.  Rives,  of 
Virginia,  followed  Mr.  Miller,  in  favor  of  the  bill.  It  was 
Mr.  Hives  maiden  speech,  and  a  very  creditable  effort.  He 
came  out  from  the  shadowy,  spectral  region  of  abstractions, 
where  no  life  is  visible,  into  the  world  of  sense  and  action. 
There  was  a  meaning  and  warmth  in  his  language  that  gained 
sympathy  and  response  in  the  breasts,  no  less  than  in  the  un 
derstandings,  of  his  hearers.  He  nationalized  Virginia,  giving 
it  more  than  "  a  local  habitation  and  a  name." 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth  day  of  Feb 
ruary,  that  Mr.  Rives  concluded  his  speech.  On  his  resuming 
his  seat,  Mr.  Calhoun  said  he  had  waited  to  see  if  any  other 
member  of  the  committee  desired  to  speak  on  the  bill.  Wish 
ing  to  be  heard  himself  on  its  merits,  he  would  move  that  the 
Senate  adjourn — and  the  Senate  adjourned. 


CHAPTER   XI 

IT  was  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  February,  1833,  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  addressed  the  Senate  against  the  Force  Bill.  All 
were  silent  as  he  rose,  and,  intent  upon  every  word  he  uttered, 
directed  their  eyes  and  ears  towards  him.  There  was  no  one 
in  the  country  at  the  time  whose  every  act  was  watched  with 
so  much  care.  He  was,  indeed,  an  object  of  fearful  curiosity. 
What  he  meditated  was  unknown  in  those  days,  and  may 
never  be  revealed.  But  the  current  and  specious  voice  at 
tributed  to  him  no  less  than  treason  against  the  government, 
It  was  known  he  was  ambitious  ;  and,  in  the  pursuit  of  his 
ambitious  projects,  it  was  believed  he  was  unscrupulous. 
"  What  thou  would 'st  highly?  that  would'st  thou  holily,"  way 
the  confession  by  Lady  Macbeth  of  her  husband's  character 
But  opinion  at  this  time  conceded  no  such  doubtful  com 
pliment  to  Mr  Calhoun.  It  was  generally  credited  that 
no  consideration  of  private  or  public  morality,  no  restriction  of 
personal  or  constitutional  obligation,  no  recollections  of  the 
past,  or  fears  of  the  future  could  control  his  rno.d  ambition. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  225 

Prejudice  amounted  to  a  passion  against  him.  The  invectives 
hurled  against  him  by  General  Jackson,  and  the  accusations 
which  followed  them,  in  every  multiplied  form,  rendered  him 
an  object  of  equal  apprehension  and  hatred.  He  was  denomi 
nated  a  Catiline  by  the  organ  of  the  administration,  and  by 
the  people  generally  was  feared  as  such. 

The  vulgar  are  disposed  to  confound  moral  with  per 
sonal  attributes ;  to  judge  of  character  or  intention  from 
physical  developments ;  to  believe  what  seems  must  be  the 
logical  and  inevitable  cause  of  what  is.  It  is  a  conclusion, 
however,  not  confined  to  the  vulgar,  the  illiterate,  the  unin 
formed — but  shared,  in  a  degree  at  least,  by  intelligent  and 
observant  men.  Mr.  Calhoun's  appearance  had  answered  well 
the  preconceived  idea  of  a  conspirator.  Tall,  gaunt,  and  of  a 
somewhat  stoop  in  figure,  with  a  brow  full,  well  formed,  but 
receding ;  hair,  not  reposing  on  the  head,  but  starting  from  it 
like  the  Gorgon's  ;  a  countenance,  expressive  of  unqualified 
intellect,  the  lines  of  which  seemed  deeply  gullied  by  intense 
thought ;  an  eye  that  watched  everything  and  revealed 
nothing,  ever  inquisitive,  restless,  and  penetrating  ;  and  a 
manner  emphatic,  yet  restrained,  determined  but  cautious  ; 
persons  who  knew  not  his  antecedents  nor  his  actual  position, 
would  have  pointed  him  out  as  one  that  might  meditate  great 
and  dangerous  pursuits.  To  an  audience,  already  embittered, 
he  seemed  to  realize  the  full  idea  of  a  conspirator. 

Yet  the  purity  of  his  private  life,  his  high  integrity,  and 

scorn  of  meanness  in  man  or  thing,  gained  him  a  warmth  of 
9* 


226  CHAPTER    XI. 

personal  regard  that  nearly  overrode  the  indignation  felt  for 
his  contemplated  or  suspected  plans.  Opinion,  at  times,  hesi 
tated  between  hatred  and  admiration ;  a  turbulent  condition 
of  the  mind  not  suited  to  a  dispassionate  view  of  the  object  of 
its  contemplation,  but  calculated,  nevertheless,  to  increase  the 
interest  and  anxiety  felt  for  it. 

The  isolation  and  even  danger  of  his  position  were  not  in 
jurious  to  the  influence  of  his  eloquence.  Those  who  hated 
him  most,  and  could  feel  no  sympathy  in  his  cause,  yet 
pardoned  those  who  felt.  A  great  man  struggling  with  adver 
sity,  was  a  spectacle  the  gods  loved  to  contemplate,  and  which 
painters  of  every  age  have  been  always  eager  to  express. 
There  is  in  it  so  much  of  moral  sublimity,  so  much  of  soul- 
subduing  grandeur,  so  much  of  more  than  mere  mortal  mag 
nanimity,  that  the  heart  is  carried  away,  as  by  a  kind  of 
surprise.  Our  sympathies  are  too  strong  for  our  convictions. 

Mr.  Calhoun  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate.  "  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  I  know  not  which  is  most  objectionable,  the  provisions  of 
this  bill,  or  the  temper  in  which  its  adoption  has  been  urged. 
If  the  extraordinary  powers  with  which  the  bill  proposes  to 
clothe  the  Executive,  to  the  utter  prostration  of  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  rights  of  the  States,  be  calculated  to  impress  our 
minds  with  alarm  at  the  rapid  progress  of  despotism  in  our 
country,  the  zeal  with  which  every  circumstance  calculated 
to  misrepresent  or  exaggerate  the  conduct  of  Carolina  in  the 
controversy  is  seized  on,  with  a  view  to  excite  hostility  against 
her,  but  too  plainly  indicates  the  deep  decay  of  that  brotherly 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  227 

feeling  which  once  existed  between  these  States,  and  to  which 
we  are  indebted  for  our  beautiful  federal  system." 

A  more  ingenious,  yet  seemingly  less  studied  exordium  will 
scarcely  be  found  recorded  in  parliamentary  annals.  The 
orator,  in  simple  but  artful  words,  transposes  entirely  the  re 
lations  of  parties  ;  and,  with  an  assurance  that  an  auditor 
would  not  dare  to  suppose  aught  but  conscious  innocence 
could  command,  demands  sympathy  for  himself  and  Carolina, 
as  suffering  wrong.  The  earnest  manner  of  the  speaker,  the 
sincerity  of  his  countenance  and  his  voice,  and  his  well-known 
candor  avoided  the  suspicion  of  intended  imposition  on  his 
part.  It  was  evident  to  all  that  he  sought  to  produce  belief 
from  what  himself  believed.  He  could  not  change  facts,  but 
he  could  interpret  them.  He  was  not  an  impostor  but 
fanatic. 

His  whole  argument  assumes  the  innocence  of  South  Caro 
lina.  Nothing  could  be  more  erroneous,  he  said,  than  that 
South  Carolina  claimed  the  right  to  violate  any  provision  of 
the  Constitution.  Her  object  was  not  to  resist  laws  made  in 
pursuance  of  the  Constitution,  but  those  made  without  its 
authority,  and  which  encroach  on  her  reserved  powers.  She 
did  not  claim  even  the  right  of  judging  of  the  delegated 
powers,  but  of  those  that  were  reserved ;  and  to  resist  the 
former  when  they  encroach  upon  the  latter. 

He  illustrated  his  position  with  infinite  ability,  and  with 
great  beauty  of  language.  In  truth,  the  curious  felicity  of 
his  diction  threw  such  a  dazzling  lustre  upon  his  sentiments 


228  CHAPTER    XI. 

as  to  conceal  their  real  character.  Forms  of  beauty  gained 
the  senses,  to  the  exclusion  of  sober  reflection  ;  just  as  the 
appearance  of  Helen,  in  her  immortal  loveliness,  overcame  the 
matured  convictions  of  Priam's  counsellors. 

In  an  earlier  part  of  this  book,  some  allusion  was  made  to 
Mr.  Calhoun's  warm  advocacy  of  the  protective  Tariff  of  1816, 
and  of  the  speech  he  made  on  the  passage  of  that  measure. 
It  is  but  fair  to  admit  his  explanation  of  his  conduct  on  that 
occasion,  as  expressed  in  his  speech  at  this  time.  His  speech 
then,  he  said,  was  an  impromptu.  It  was  delivered  at  the 
request  of  a  friend,  when  he  had  not  previously  the  least  in 
tention  of  addressing  the  House.  "  He  came  to  me,"  said  Mr. 
Calhoun,  "  when  I  was  sitting  at  my  desk  writing,  and  said 
that  the  House  was  falling  into  some  confusion,  accompanying 
it  with  a  remark  that  I  knew  how  difficult  it  was  to  rally  so 
large  a  body  when  once  broken  on  a  tax-bill,  as  had  been  ex 
perienced  during  the  late  war.  Having  a  higher  opinion  of 
my  influence  than  it  deserved,  he  requested  me  to  say  some 
thing  to  prevent  the  confusion.  I  replied  that  I  was  at  a  loss 
what  to  say  ;  that  I  had  been  busily  engaged  on  the  currency, 
which  was  then  in  great  confusion,  and  which,  as  I  stated,  had 
been  particularly  under  my  charge,  as  chairman.  He  repeated 
his  request,  and  the  speech  which  the  Senator  from  Pennsyl 
vania,  Mr.  Dallas,  has  complimented  so  highly  was  the  result." 

The  bill  of  1816  being  a  revenue  bill  was,  of  course,  con 
stitutional  ;  in  urging  it,  did  he  commit  himself  to  that  system 
of  oppression  since  grown  up,  and  which  has  for  its  object  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  229 

enriching  of  one  portion  of  the  country  at  the  expense  of  the 
other  ? 

Mr.  Calhoun  contended  that  it  was  as  a  friend  to  the  re 
served  powers  of  the  States,  Gen.  Jackson  was  so  warmly 
supported  at  the  South  in  the  canvass  of  1828.  His  election 
was  hailed  as  their  security.  But  the  very  event  on  which 
they  had  built  their  hopes  had  been  turned  against  them  ;  and 
the  very  person  to  whom  they  had  looked  as  a  deliverer,  and 
whom,  under  that  impression,  South  Carolina  had  striven  for 
so  many  years  to  elevate  to  power,  had  become  the  most 
powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of  his  and  their  bitterest  op 
ponents,  to  put  down  them  and  their  cause. 

"  Scarcely  had  he  been  elected,"  said  Mr.  Calhoun,  "  when 
it  became  apparent,  from  the  organization  of  his  Cabinet,  and 
other  indications,  that  all  our  hopes  of  relief  through  him  were 
blasted.  The  admission  of  a  single  individual  into  the  Cabinet, 
under  the  circumstances  which  accompanied  the  admission, 
threw  all  into  confusion.  The  mischievous  influence  over  the 
President  through  which  this  individual  was  admitted  into  the 
Cabinet,  soon  became  apparent.  Instead  of  turning  his  eyes 
forward  to  the  period  of  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  which 
was  then  near  at  hand,  and  to  the  present  dangerous  political 
crisis,  which  was  inevitable,  unless  averted  by  a  timely  and 
wise  system  of  measures,  the  attention  of  the  President  was 
absorbed  by  mere  party  arrangements,  and  circumstances  too 
disreputable  to  be  mentioned  here,  except  by  the  most  distant 
allusion." 


230  CHAPTKK    XI. 

Few  persons,  among  our  public  men,  have  been  so  careful 
to  avoid  personalities  in  debate  as  Mr.  Calhoun.  Notwith 
standing  the  wrongs,  fancied  or  real,  he  had  suffered,  or  sup 
posed  himself  to  have  suffered,  from  Mr.  Van  Buren,  I  recollect 
now  no  other  occasion  in  which  he  made,  in  public  debate, 
any  hostile  allusion  to  that  gentleman,  or  indulged,  indeed,  in 
language  of  abuse  towards  any  personal  or  political  adversary. 
This,  in  a  country  and  age  where  personal  criminations  and 
recriminations,  if  not  defended  on  principle,  are  tolerated  and 
even  encouraged  by  general  practice,  is  no  ordinary  praise. 

Of  the  accusation  against  him  in  the  President's  Proclama 
tion,  that  he  had  been  governed  in  his  late  course  by  feelings 
of  disappointed  ambition,  he  spoke  in  terms  more  of  sorrow 
than  anger.  It  ill  became  the  Chief  Magistrate,  he  said,  to 
make  such  a  charge.  His  whole  career  refuted  it.  The  doc 
trine  which  he  now  sustained  he  had  advocated  from  the 
passage  of  the  Act  of  1828,  "  the  bill  of  abominations."  When 
that  bill  came  from  the  other  House  to  the  Senate,  the  almost 
universal  impression  was,  that  its  fate  would  depend  upon  his 
casting  vote.  It  was  known,  as  the  bill  then  stood,  that  the 
Senate  was  nearly  equally  divided  ;  and  as  it  was  a  combined 
measure,  originating  with  the  politicians  and  manufacturers, 
and  intended  as  much  to  bear  upon  the  Presidential  election 
as  to  protect  manufacturers,  it  was  believed  that,  as  a  stroke 
of  political  policy,  its  fate  would  be  made  to  depend  upon  his 
vote,  in  order  to  defeat  G-en.  Jackson's  election  as  well  as  his 
own.  The  friends  of  Gen.  Jackson  were  alarmed,  and  lu> 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  231 

(Mr.  Calhoun)  was  earnestly  entreated  to  leave  the  chair,  in 
order  to  avoid  the  responsibility,  under  the  plausible  argument, 
that  if  the  Senate  should  be  equally  divided,  the  bill  would  be 
lost  without  the  aid  of  his  casting  vote.  The  reply  to  this 
entreaty  was,  that  no  consideration,  personal  to  himself,  could 
induce  him  to  take  such  a  course  ;  that  he  considered  the 
measure  as  of  the  most  dangerous  character,  calculated  to 
produce  the  most  fearful  crisis  ;  that  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt  was  just  at  hand,  and  that  the  great  increase  of  revenue 
which  it  would  pour  into  the  treasury  would  accelerate  the 
approach  of  that  period  ;  and  that  the  country  would  be  placed 
in  the  most  trying  of  all  situations,  with  an  immense  revenue, 
without  the  means  of  absorption  upon  any  legitimate  or  con 
stitutional  object  of  appropriation,  and  would  be  compelled  to 
submit  to  all  the  corrupting  consequences  of  a  large  surplus, 
or  to  make  a  sudden  reduction  of  the  rates  of  duties,  which 
would  prove  ruinous  to  the  very  interests  which  were  then 
forcing  the  passage  of  the  bill.  Under  these  views  he  deter 
mined  to  remain  in  the  chair,  and,  if  the  bill  came  to  him,  to 
give  his  casting  vote  against  it,  and,  in  so  doing,  to  give  his 
reasons  at  large  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  informed  his 
friends  that  he  would  retire  from  the  ticket,  so  that  the  elec 
tion  of  Gen.  Jackson  might  not  be  embarrassed  by  any  act  of 
his.  "  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Calhoun,  "  I  was  amazed  at  the  folly 
and  infatuation  of  that  period.  So  completely  was  Congress 
absorbed  in  the  game  of  ambition  and  avarice,  from  the  double 
impulse  of  the  manufacturers  and  politicans,  that  none  but  a 


232  CHAPTER    XI. 

few  appeared  to  anticipate  the  present  crisis  at  which  now  all 
are  alarmed,  but  which  is  the  inevitable  result  of  what  was 
then  done."  As  to  himself,  he  had  clearly  foreseen  what  had 
since  followed.  The  road  of  ambition  lay  open  before  him  ; 
he  had  but  to  follow  the  corrupt  tendency  of  tne  times,  but  he 

had  chosen  to  tread  the  rugged  path  of  duty: 

>' 
The  character  of  this  extraordinary  man  has  been  the  theme 

alike  of  extravagant  praise  and^pbloquy,  as  zealous  friendship 
or  earnest  enmity  have  held  the  pen.  His  sun  has  lately  sunk 
below  the  horizon  ;  it  went  down  in  all  the  splendor  of  noon 
tide,  and  the  effulgence  of  its  setting  yet  dazzles  the  mind  too 
much,  to  justify  an  impartial  opinion.  But  whatever  may  be 
the  diversity  of  opinion  as  regards  his  patriotism,  or  the  integ 
rity  of  his  purpose,  no  one  who  respects  himself  will  deny  him 
the  possession  of  rare  intellectual  faculties  ;  of  a  mind  capa 
cious  and  enlightened  ;  of  powers  of  reasoning  almost  miracu 
lous  ;  of  unequalled  prescience  ;  and  of  a  judgment,  when 
unwarped  by  prejudice,  most  express  and  admirable. 

On  this,  the  greatest  occasion  of  his  intellectual  and  political 
life,  he  bore  himself  proudly  and  gloriously.  He  appeared  to 
hold  victory  at  his  command,  and  yet  determined,  withal,  to 
show  that  he  deserved  it.  There  was  a  strength  in  his  argu 
ment  that  seemed  the  exhaustion  of  thought,  and  a  frequency 
of  nervous  diction  most  appropriate  for  its  expression.  The 
extreme  mobility  of  his  mind  was  felt  everywhere  and  imme 
diate.  It  passed  from  declamation  to  invective,  and  from  in- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  233 

yective  to  argument,  rapidly,  but  not  confusedly,  exciting  and 
filling  the  imagination  of  all. 

In  his  tempestuous  eloquence,  he  tore  to  pieces  the  argu 
ments  of  his  opponents,  as  the  hurricane  rends  the  sails. 
Nothing  withstood  the  ardor  of  his  mind  ;  ns  sophistry,  how 
ever  ingenious,  puzzled  him  ;  no  rhetorical  ruse  escaped  his 
detection.  He  overthrew  logic  that  seemed  impregnable,  and 
demolished  the  most  compact  theory,  in  a  breath. 

No  little  portion  of  the  speech  was  directed  to  the  conside 
ration  of  the  philosophy  of  government,  and  the  history  of 
free  institutions, — subjects  which  the  orator  had  studied  to 
complete  mastery,  and  was  amply  capable  to  illustrate.  He 
defended  himself  against  the  charge  of  "  metaphysical  rea 
soning."  As  he  understood  the  proper  use  of  the  term,  it 
meant  the  power  of  analysis  and  combination.  "  It  is  the 
power,"  he  said,  "  which  raises  man  above  the  brute  ;  which 
distinguishes  his  faculties  from  mere  sagacity,  which  he  holds 
in  common  with  inferior  animals.  It  is  this  power  which  has 
raised  the  astronomer  from  being  a  mere  gazer  at  the  stars  to 
the  high,  intellectual  eminence  of  a  Newton  or  La  Place,  and 
astronomy  itself,  from  a  mere  observation  of  insulated  facts, 
into  that  noble  science  which  displays  to  our  admiration  the 
system  of  the  Universe.  And  shall  this  high  power  of  the 
mind,  which  has  effected  such  wonders  when  directed  to  the 
laws  which  control  the  material  world,  be  forever  prohibited, 
under  a  senseless  cry  of  metaphysics,  from  being  applied  to 

:he  mighty  purpose  of  political  science  and  legislation  ?     I 
11 


234  CHAPTER    XI. 

hold  them  to  be  subject  to  laws  as  fixed  as  matter  itself,  and 
to  be  as  fit  a  subject  for  the  application  of  the  highest  intel 
lectual  power.  Denunciation  may  indeed  fall  upon  the  phi 
losophical  inquirer  into  these  first  principles  as  it  did  upon 
Galileo  and  Bacon,  when  they  first  unfolded  the  great  discov 
eries  which  have  immortalized  their  names  ;  but  the  time  will 
come  when  truth  will  prevail  in  spite  of  prejudice  and  denun 
ciation,  and  when  politics  and  legislation  will  be  considered  as 
much  a  science  as  astronomy  and  chemistry." 

The  crowd  was  great  in  the  Senate  chamber  during  Mr. 
Calhoun's  speech  ;  in  the  galleries  more  particularly.  While 
he  was  uttering  some  of  his  brilliant  periods,  in  the  very  tor 
rent,  tempest,  and  whirlwind  of  his  eloquence,  a  man  in  the 
gallery  suddenly  confounded  the  audience  by  exclaiming,  in  a 
shriek-like  voice,  "Mr.  President!"  and  before  the  presiding 
officer  could  take  measures  to  repress  the  outrage,  he  con 
tinued,  "  Mr.  President,  something  must  be  done,  or  I  shall 
be  squeezed  to  death  !"  It  was  sometime  before  order  could 
be  restored,  or  the  dignity  of  the  Senate  re-established.  The 
ludicrous  natuije  of  the  interruption  affected  the  gravity  of 
almost  every  person  present,  even  of  grave  Senators ;  of  all, 
perhaps,  but  the  orator,  upon  whose  countenance  there  passed 
not  the  shade  of  an  emotion.  The  rigid  muscles  showed  no  relax 
ation,  but  every  feature  remained  unmoved  and  inflexible.  Ho 
proceeded  as  if  naught  had  occurred  of  singularity,  and  his 
deep  and  earnest  tones  soon  recalled  the  minds  of  the  audi 
ence  to  the  subject  they  had  for  a  moment  forgotten. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  235 

He  spoke  parts  of  two  days — concluding  at  two  o'clock  of 
the  second  day,  as  soon  as  he  finished  his  speech,  Mr.  "Web 
ster  took  the  floor  in  reply  ;  universal  opinion  assuming  that 
he  alone  was  qualified  to  follow  Mr.  Calhoun. 

Before  Mr.  Webster  consented  to  address  the  Senate  on  the 
bill,  he  had  demanded  the  incorporation  into  it  of  certain 
amendatory  provisions.  Everything  he  asked  was  conceded 
by  its  friends.  He  prepared,  therefore,  or  redrafted  seve 
ral  of  the  most  useful  sections  of  the  bill ;  not  those  which 
looked  to  the  application  of  military  force,  but  such  as  pro 
vided  for  the  full  exercise  of  the  judicial  power  of  the  United 
States,  notwithstanding  the  State  laws  which  had  been  passed 
to  defeat  the  exercise  of  that  jurisdiction 

The  high  and  equal  rank  of  these  two  rivals, — the  greatest 
intellects,  it  is  not  invidious  to  say,  of  the  whole  country, — 
and  the  momentous  nature  of  the  contest  between  them  drew, 
of  course,  a  much  greater  than  ordinary  crowd  to  the  Capitol. 
Mr.  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne  had  made  curiosity  more  eager 
to  hear  him  again  ;  while  the  singular  position  of  Mr.  Cal 
houn,  the  doubt  of  his  purposes,  and  his  unrivalled  abilities, 
served  equally  to  attract  multitudes. 

The  Executive  Department  of  the  Government  was  repre 
sented  daily  in  the  Senate  during  the  discussion  of  this  mea. 
sure  by  one  or  more  of  its  members.     The  Chief  Magistrate 
it  is  true,  conceded  to  precedence,  and  withheld  his  presence 
from  the  open  debate.     But  members  of  his  Cabinet  gratified 
their  own  curiosity  an  J  his  wishes,  and  apucared  among  the 


236  CHAPTER    XI. 

audience  ;  no  one  of  whom  watched  the  proceedings  and  the 
various  speeches  with  more  anxiety  than  the  Secretary  of  War, 
LEWIS  CASS.  He  occupied  a  somewhat  hazardous  position 
An  aspirant  after  greater  honors,  he  saw  no  certain  way  to 
preserve  the  present  and  secure  the  future.  On  the  one  side 
the  fatal  anger  of  Gen.  Jackson  threatened  to  pursue  the 
slightest  defection  from  his  will ;  on  the  other,  outraged  State 
Rights  would  seek  plenary  vengeance  against  the  person  who 
wantonly  or  weakly  assailed  them.  The  first  intimidated  him 
with  the  loss  of  present  position ;  the  latter,  with  the  loss  of 
future  pre-eminence.  The  organ  through  which  the  inten 
tions  of  the  President,  if  hostile  to  the  pretended  rights  of 
States,  must  yet  find  expression  in  voice  and  act,  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  felt,  that  any  measure  of  force,  whether  aggres 
sive  or  merely  defensive,  would  excite  against  his  name  great 
obloquy  at  the  South.  From  a  due  regard  to  his  own  inter 
ests,  therefore,  as  well  as,  undoubtedly,  from  a  warm  attach 
ment  to  the  Union,  he  labored  with  great  earnestness  to  har 
monize  the  conflicting  elements  ;  in  which  laudable  endeavor, 
he  was  zealously  seconded,  generally,  by  the  rest  of  the  Cabi 
net. 

After  Mr.  Webster's  reply  to  Col.  Hayne,  in  which  the 
general  opinion  at  the  time  held  that  the  latter  was  worsted, 
Mr.  Calhoun,  in  conversation  with  a  friend,  attributed  the  re 
sult  to  Mr.  Hayne's  want  of  previous  training,  and  of  proper 
constitutional  knowledge  ;  and  intimated  that  with  anothei 
competitor,  Mr.  Webster  might  not  have  borne  off  the  honors 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  237 

of  the  contest  so  easily.  That  Mr.  Calhoun  was  superior  to 
Mr.  Hayne,  alike  in  natural  capacity  and  acquired  knowledge, 
will  be  generally  and  readily  conceded  ;  but  that  he  obtained 
over  Mr.  Webster,  in  the  dialectic  contest  now  commemorated, 
more  of  a  victory  than  Col.  Hayne,  there  would  be  many  to 
dispute.  It  needs  a  poet,  it  is  said,  to  judge  of  poetry,  and, 
reasoning  upon  the  same  principle,  a  constitutional  lawyer 
alone  could  safely  pronounce  upon  the  merits  of  a  constitu 
tional  argument.  To  estimate  with  nicety  the  relative  ability 
of  such  profound  arguments  as  those  of  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr. 
Webster,  must  presuppose  the  power  of  making  an  equal  one. 
Still,  if  the  common  judgment  may  be  holden  as  arbiter — and 
to  what  more  certain  or  more  accurate  have  we  to  look — there 
would  be  no  hesitation  in  the  adjustment  of  the  relative  merits 
of  the  two  efforts. 

Mr.  Webster,  in  his  speech,  confined  himself  closely  to  the 
argument.  Unlike  Mr.  Calhoun,  he  indulged  neither  in  per 
sonal  explanations  nor  philosophical  observations,  which, 
however  profound  and  brilliant  in  themselves,  had  no  perti 
nency  to  the  issue. 

His  statement  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  theory  sounds  like  its  refu 
tation.  "  Beginning,"  he  said,  "  with  the  original  error,  that 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  nothing  but  a  compact 
between  sovereign  States ;  asserting,  in  the  next  step,  that 
each  State  has  a  right  to  be  its  own  sole  judge  of  the  extent 
of  its  own  obligations,  and,  consequently,  of  the  constitu 
tionality  of  laws  of  Congress  ;  and,  in  the  next,  that  it  may 


238  CHAPTER    XI. 

oppose  whatever  it  sees  fit  to  declare  unconstitutional,  artl  tha; 
it  decides  for  itself  on  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress,  tho 
argument  arrives  at  once  at  the  conclusion,  that  what  a  State 
dissents  from,  it  may  nullify  ;  what  it  opposes,  it  may  oppose; 
by  force  ;  what  it  decides  for  itself,  it  may  execute  by  its  owi, 
power  ;  and  that,  in  short,  it  is  itself  supreme  over  the  legis 
lation  of  Congress,  and  supreme  over  the  decisions  of  the  na 
tional  judicature — supreme  over  the  Constitution  of  the  country 
— supreme  over  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  However  i ; 
seeks  to  protect  itself  against  these  plain  inferences,  by  saying 
that  an  unconstitutional  law  is  no  law,  and  that  it  only  opposes 
such  laws  as  are  unconstitutional,  yet  this  does  not,  in  the 
slightest  degree,  vary  the  result,  since  it  insists  on  deciding 
this  question  for  itself ;  and,  in  opposition  to  reason  and  argu 
ment,  in  opposition  to  practice  and  experience,  in  opposition 
to  the  judgment  of  others  having  an  equal  right  to  judge,  it 
says  only  :  '  Such  is  my  opinion,  and  my  opinion  shall  be  my 
law,  and  I  will  support  it  by  my  own  strong  hand.  I  denounce 
the  law.  I  declare  it  unconstitutional ;  that  is  enough  ;  it 
shall  not  be  executed.  Men  in  arms  are  ready  to  resist  its 
execution.  An  attempt  to  enforce  it  shall  cover  the  land  with 
blood.  Elsewhere,  it  may  be  binding  ;  but  here,  it  is  trampled 
under  foot.'  This,  sir,  is  practical  nullification." 

Against  all  such  theories,  opinions,  or  heresies,  Mr.  Webster 
maintained, — 

I.    That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  not  a 
league,  confederacy,  or  compact,  between  the  people  of  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  239 

several  States  in  their  sovereign  capacities  ;  but  a  Government 
proper,  founded  on  the  adoption  of  the  people,  and  creating 
direct  relations  between  itself  and  individuals. 

II.  That  no  State  authority  has  power  to  dissolve  those  re 
lations ;  that  nothing  can  dissolve  them  but  revolution  ;  and 
that,  consequently,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  secession 
without  revolution. 

III.  That  there  is  a  supreme  law,  consisting  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  acts  of  Congress  passed  in  pur 
suance  of  it,  and  treaties  ;  and  that,  in  cases  not  capable  of 
assuming  the  character  of  a  suit  in  law  or  equity,  Congress 
must  judge  of,  and  finally  interpret,  this  supreme  law,  so  often 
as  it  has  occasion  to  pass  acts  of  legislation  ;  and,  in  cases 
capable  of  assuming,  and  actually  assuming,  the  character  of  a 
suit,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  is  the  final  in 
terpreter. 

IY.  That  an  attempt  by  a  State  to  abrogate,  annul,  or  nul 
lify  an  Act  of  Congress,  or  to  arrest  its  operation  within  her 
limits,  on  the  ground  that,  in  her  opinion,  such  law  is  uncon 
stitutional,  is  a  direct  usurpation  on  the  just  powers  of  the 
General  Government,  and  on  the  equal  rights  of  other  States ; 
a  plain  violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  a  proceeding  essen 
tially  revolutionary  in  its  character  and  tendency. 

These  four  propositions  Mr.  Webster  maintained  with  a 
variety  of  illustration  and  power  of  argument  that  surprised 
even  those  who  estimated  his  abilities  most  highly.  The  oc 
casion  certainly  demanded  all  the  intellect  with  which  he  had 


240  CHAPTER    XI 

been  endowed.  His  opponent  had  given  to  his  argument  such 
an  air  of  plausibility  as  to  deceive  many.  If  he  had  not  suc 
ceeded  wholly  in  making  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason, 
he  had  staggered  former  convictions,  and  unsettled  the  most 
deliberate  belief.  All  objections  to  his  theory  he  had  refuted 
and  exposed  to  ridicule,  and  no  one  of  his  opponents  had  been 
able  to  recover  from  his  vigorous  and  well-directed  blows. 

"Within  the  scope  of  this  work,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
adduce  sufficient  of  Mr.  Webster's  argument  to  justify  a  be 
lief  in  his  positions  ;  a  circumstance,  the  less  to  be  regretted, 
perhaps,  since  to  the  general  reader  his  propositions  will  appear 
self-evident  truths.  Still,  no  one  in  pursuit  of  examples  of  the 
most  masterly  logic  ;  no  one  who  seeks  to  acquire  a  certain 
knowledge  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  CONSTITUTIONAL 
LAW  ;  no  one,  in  fine,  who  would  behold  the  dignity  of  human 
reason  in  its  loftiest  expression,  can  safely  pretermit  the  perusal 
and  study  of  this  great  effort. 

There  was  not  the  opportunity  in  this  speech,  as  in  the 
reply  to  Hayne,  for  the  exhibition  of  the  various  powers  of  the 
speaker.  Here  no  sarcasm  was  required,  no  humor,  no  wit, 
and  no  impassioned  eloquence.  The  mind  was  to  be  convinced, 
not  the  -passions  excited.  The  effect  was  to  be  permanent, 
rather  than  immediate  ;  and  it  was  the  cause  of  his  country, 
not  personal  gratification,  that  the  orator  was  to  strive  to 
establish. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  his  speech,  Mr.  Webster  made  an 
allusion  to  his  reply  to  Hayne.  "  Mr.  President,"  he  said, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  241 

"  if  I  considered  the  constitutional  question  now  before  us  as 
doubtful  as  it  is  important,  and  if  I  supposed  this  decision, 
either  in  the  Senate  or  by  the  country,  was  likely  to  be  in 
fluenced  in  any  degree  by  the  manner  in  which  I  might  now 
discuss  it,  this  would  be  to  me  a  moment  of  deep  solicitude 
Such  a  moment  has  once  existed.  There  has  been  a  time, 
when,  rising  in  this  place,  on  the  same  question,  I  felt,  I  must 
confess,  that  something  for  good  or  evil  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  country  might  depend  on  an  effort  of  mine.  But  circum 
stances  are  changed.  Since  that  day,  sir,  the  public  opinion 
has  become  awakened  to  this  great  question ;  it  has  grasped 
it ;  it  has  reasoned  upon  it,  as  becomes  an  intelligent  and 
patriotic  community  ;  and  has  settled  it,  or  now  seems  in  the 
progress  of  settling  it,  by  an  authority  which  none  can  disobey 
— the  authority  of  the  people  themselves." 

Still  it  was  well,  that  Mr.  Webster  put  forth  unreserved  the 
energies  of  his  mind  on  this  occasion.  Nullification  had  in 
part  recovered  from  the  severity  of  his  first  blow,  and,  foster 
ed  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  was  again  rearing  its  horrid  front  against 
the  Union.  It  might  have  been  successful,  but  for  Mr.  Web 
ster's  gigantic  argument,  in  theory  ;  it  may  be  successful 
hereafter,  but  can  only  be  so,  since  such  argument,  by  force — 
No  reason  but  ultima  ratio  r  eg  urn — "  the  last  reason  of  kings" 
or  republics — can  justify  it  now 

The  words  of  solemn  warning  with  which  he  concluded  his 
argument,  cannot  be  too  often  heard  and  repeated  ;  and  could 

not  be  more  fitly  introduced  than  now,  when  the  idea  of  dis- 
11* 


242  CHAPTER    XI. 

union  seems  once  more  to  occupy  the  weak  imagination  o? 
fanatics,  at  either  extremity  of  the  Union.  "  Mr. President,  i ' 
the  friends  of  nullification  should  be  able  to  propagate  their 
opinions,  and  give  them  practical  effect,  they  would,  in  ni} 
judgment,  prove  themselves  the  most  skilful  architects  of 
ruin,  the  most  effectual  extinguishers  of  high-raised  expect 
ation,  the  greatest  blasters  of  human  hopes,  which  any  age 
has  produced.  They  would  stand  up  to  proclaim,  in  tones 
which  would  pierce  the  ears  of  half  the  human  race,  that  the 
last  great  experiment  of  representative  government  had  failed. 
They  would  send  forth  sounds,  at  the  hearing  of  which,  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  kings  would  feel,  even  in  its 
grave,  a  returning  sensation  of  vitality  and  resuscitation. 
Millions  of  eyes,  of  those  who  now  feed  their  inherent  love  of 
liberty  on  the  success  of  the  American  example,  would  turn 
away  from  beholding  our  dismemberment,  and  find  no  place  on 
earth  whereon  to  rest  their  gratified  sight.  Amidst  the  incan 
tations  and  orgies  of  nullification,  secession,  disunion,  and 
revolution,  would  be  celebrated  the  funereal  rites  of  constitu 
tional  and  republican  liberty." 

The  thronged  Senate-chamber,  while  it  listened  to  the  duep 
tones  of  the  speaker,  as  in  his  most  impressive  manner  he 
pronounced  this  eloquent  admonition,  surged  like  the  sea. 
You  saw  the  undulating  motion  of  the  crowd,  leaning  forward 
to  catch  each  word  as  it  fell,  and  forced  back  to  its  original 
position.  It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  the  orator  got 
through  his  speech.  The  emotions  of  the  multitude,  which 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  243 

had  been  repressed  during  the  day  did  not  hesitate  to  find  ar 
ticulate  and  forcible  expression  tinder  the  protecting  shadows 
of  night ;  and  hardly  had  the  speaker  concluded  his  remarks, 
before  the  galleries,  rising  to  a  man,  gave  a  hearty,  vociferous 
cheer,  for  "  Daniel  Webster,  the  defender  of  the  Constitu 
tion." 

Mr.  Poindexter  immediately  started  to  his  feet  and  moved 
an  adjournment.  But  the  presiding  officer  ordered  the  galle 
ries  to  be  cleared,  refusing  to  put  the  motion  to  adjourn  till 
after  order  had  been  restored  ;  and  then  the  Senate  adjourned. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  debate  languished  after  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Calhoun's 
and  Mr.  Webster's  speeches.  The  crowd  that  had  filled  the 
Senate  Chamber  daily  to  hear  them,  gradually  thinned.  The 
public  curiosity  to  listen  to  the  debate,  which  had  grown 
stronger  from  its  first  opening  to  the  GREAT  ARGUMENT, 
reached  its  highest  point  at  the  conclusion  thereof,  and  thence 
subsided  into  its  ordinary  character  of  indifference.  There 
were  some  good  speeches  on  the  subject,  however,  made  later. 
Mr.  Forsyth  made  an  able  argument  for  the  bill,  and  refuted, 
with  brief  but  emphatic  logic,  the  objections  urged  against  it. 
He  had  not  prepared  himself  fully  for  the  discussion,  but  he 
spoke  enough  to  convince  his  audience  of  his  ability  to  say 
more,  equally  well.  Mr.  Miller,  of  South  Carolina,  followed 
him  on  the  other  side,  as  briefly  if  not  as  ably.  Speaking  of 
Mr.  Webster's  position  towards  the  administration  as  com 
pared  with  his  position  in  the  Hayne  controversy,  he  said  : 
"  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts  is  now  the  alpha  with  the 
powers  that  be  ;  it  is  not  long  since  he  was  the  omega."  Mi\ 
Poindexter  also  made  a  speech.  How  much  or  little  of  other 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  245 

merit  it  possessed,  it  wanted  one  sadly — the  merit  of  brevity. 
There  was  but  little  in  his  constitutional  argument  not  better 
expressed  by  Mr.  Calhoun  or  Mr.  Tyler  :  in  personal  invective, 
however,  he  borrowed  from  neither  of  those  gentlemen.  He 
drew  his  inspiration  therein  from  his  disposition.  Mr.  Grundj 
epoke  with  a  good  deal  of  plausibility  and  ingenuity  of  argu 
ment,  particularly  against  the  assumed  right  of  any  State  to 
secede  from  the  Union,  at  its  option.  Mr.  Ewing  of  Ohio 
followed,  and  closed  the  debate.  He  rose  to  speak  about  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  spoke  half  an  hour,  and  then  gave  way 
to  a  motion  for  adjournment.  The  motion  was  lost.  It  was 
the  determination  of  the  managers  of  the  bill  to  take  a  vote 
upon  it  before  adjournment.  Against  such  intention,  Mr. 
Calhoun  protested.  He  said  that  as  the  debate  was  closed  on 
the  part  of  the  opponents  of  the  bill,  and  as  there  was  no  dis 
position  on  their  part  to  delay  its  passage,  he  hoped  that  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  would  consent  to  postpone  the 
final  question  until  the  morning,  as  the  Senate  was  thin,  and  a 
bill  of  such  importance  ought  to  pass  in  a  full  Senate.  Several 
gentlemen,  he  said,  had  retired  from  indisposition. 

Mr.  Wilkins  rendered  a  tribute  to  the  liberality  of  the  gen 
tleman  from  South  Carolina,  who  had  postponed  his  intention 
of  addressing  the  Senate,  and  had  thus  facilitated  the  termina 
tion  of  the  debate.  But  as  the  Senate  had  been  notified  that, 
the  bill  would  be  urged  through  this  evening,  and  as  it  was 
therefore  to  be  presumed  that  every  Senator  was  prepared  tc 


246  CHAPTER    XII. 

vote,  and  as  the  public  mind  was  desirous  that  this  question 
should  be  disposed  of,  he  could  not  consent  to  delay. 

Mr.  Calhoun  then  moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn,  but, 
after  some  interlocution  with  members  near  him,  withdrew  the 
motion. 

Mr.  Ewing  then  resumed,  and  continued  his  remarks  till 
naif-past  nine  o'clock,  when  he  yielded  the  floor  to  Mr 
Holmes,  who  moved  an  adjournment. 

By  this  time,  Senators  exhibited  conclusive  indications  of 
exhaustion.  Some  nodded  in  their  scats  ;  others  were  strown 
upon  the  sofas  behind  the  bar  ;  a  few  had  loft  the  Senate,  and 
gone  to  their  lodgings.  There  were  none  who  felt  not  fatigued, 
and  almost  overborne  by  the  protracted  and  ardent  contest. 
But  the  confidential  friends  of  the  President,  Messrs.  Wilkins 
and  Grundy,  would  listen  to  no  entreaty  for  adjournment. 
This  was  the  day,  this  the  hour,  to  determine  the  fate  of  the 
bill.  Senators  had  suffered,  perhaps,  but  they  could  suffer  a 
little  more,  for  their  country.  Their  merit  would  be  the 
greater  from  their  present  sacrifice. 

Mr.  Wilkins  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays  on  Mr.  Holmes' 
motion  to  adjourn  ;  which,  being  taken,  stood,  thirteen  for 
adjournment,  twenty-three  against  it. 

Mr.  Ewing  again  took  the  floor,  and  spoke  an  hour  longer. 

In  the  meanwhile,  several  Senators,  some  favorable  and  somo 
adverse  to  the  bill,  left  the  Senate,  unwilling  or  unable  to 
await  the  termination  of  the  debate  ;  the  two  Senators  from 
Missouri  among  othors,  thereby  avoiding  a  record  of  their  vote" 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  247 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Ewing  concluded  his  speech,  Mr.  Webster 
demanded  the  ayes  and  noes  on  the  passage  of  the  bill 
Whereupon  Mr.  Tyler  rose,  and  moved  that  the  Senate  ad 
journ.  He  stated  that  he  had  been  induced  to  make  the 
motion  because  he  saw  that  several  Senators  who  were  opposed 
to  the  bill  were  absent  from  their  seats,  and  he  thought  that 
the  bill  had  better  receive  its  final  action  early  in  the  morning. 

Mr.  Wilkins  replied  that  the  gentlemen  whose  seats  were 
empty,  had  but  a  few  minutes  before  withdrawn  from  the 
Senate,  and  he  presumed  that,  as  they  must  be  in  the  imme 
diate  vicinity,  they  would  return  in  time  to  vote  on  the  bill. 

The  motion  to  adjourn  was  then  lost  by  the  decisive  vote  of 
twenty-seven  noes  to  five  ayes. 

Mr.  Calhoun  and  some  of  his  friends,  who  had  waited  in  or 
near  the  Senat-e  till  the  last  hope  of  delaying  action  on  the 
bill  was  lost,  now,  with  some  parade,  left  the  Senate  and  the 
Capitol,  having  first  endeavored  to  persuade  Mr.  Tyler  to  ac 
company  them.  He  replied,  he  would  remain  to  the  crack  of 
doom,  but  he  would  record  his  vote  against  this  tyrannical 
measure — though  his  vote  should  be  the  only  one  against  it. 

Finally,  all  efforts  to  postpone  a  vote  having  failed,  the 
question  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  was  taken  at  half-past  eleven 
o'clock,  and  decided  as  follows  : 

Yeas. — Bell,  Chambers,  Clayton,  Dallas,  Dickers  on,  Dudley, 
Ewing,  Foot,  Forsyth,  Frelinghuysen,  Grundy,  Hendricks. 
Hill,  Holmes,  Johnston,  Kane,  Knight,  Nandain,  Prentiss, 
Rives, Robbins,  Kobbinson,  Ruggles.  Silsbee,  Sprague,  Tipton, 


248  CHAPTER    XII. 

Tomlinson,  Waggaman,  Webster,  White,  Wilkins,  Wright. — 
32. 

Nay. — JOHN  TYLER. 

And  the  Senate  adjourned  at  midnight. 

In  this  list  will  be  found  the  great  name  neither  of  BENTOIS, 
CLAY,  nor  CALHOUN.  It  is  not  known  that  Mr.  Benton  ever 
assigned  a  reason  for  not  voting  ;  but  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  public  and  private  career  of  the  distinguished  Senator, 
can  well  believe  that  it  was  from  no  want  of  moral  courage  that 
he  did  not  record  his  name.  Mr.  Clay  stated  to  the  Senate, 
the  day  after  the  vote,  that  he  found  it  impossible  to  breathe 
the  impure  air  of  the  Senate-chamber  after  dinner.  He  had 
been  twice  compelled  to  absent  himself  from  the  Senate  in  the 
evening  ;  and  the  night  before,  he  was  prevented  from  giving 
the  vote  which  he  would  have  given  with  pleasure  in  favor  of 
the  bill  which  had  then  passed.  Mr.  Calhoun  said,  that  he 
had  been  anxious  the  night  before,  the  vote  should  be  post 
poned  till  to-day,  that  it  might  be  taken  in  the  full  Senate. 

With  this  object  in  view,  he  had  then  moved  an  adjournment, 
but  the  majority  of  the  Senate  was  inexorable.  The  only 
course  that  then  remained  for  himself  and  his  friends  was,  to 
vote  in  a  minority  which  would  not  contain  the  strength  of  the 
opposition  to  the  bill,  or  to  leave  the  Senate  ;  and  they  had 
determined  on  the  latter  as  the  most  correct  course,  and  as 
the  best  calculated  to  convey  an  accurate  expression  of  the 
feeling  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Clay  made  no  speech  upon  the  bill.     There  may  bo 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  249 

those  who  think  his  silence  distinguished  him  more  than  his 
participation  in  the  debate  could  have  done  ;  as  the  image  of 
Brutus  omitted  in  the  pageant  of  the  conqueror,  was  considered 
more  honorable  to  him  than  its  presence  could  have  been. 
And  there  may  be  those  who  think  that  it  indicated  faint 
heartedness,  or  lukewarmness  at  least,  to  have  been  so  passive 

* 

when  such  momentous  interests  were  in  discussion.  Leaving 
such  persons,  if  there  be  such,  to  the  enjoyment  of  their  va 
rious  opinion,  it  may  be  well  to  suggest  the  probable  solution 
of  his  taciturnity.  It  is  well  known  that  during  the  whole 
discussion,  the  eminent  Senator  was  devoted,  with  an  incessant 
and  intense  application,  to  the  maturing  and  bringing  forward 
of  his  COMPROMISE — a  measure  which,  from  its  importance,  of 
principle  no  less  than  detail,  demanded  the  entire  absorption 
of  even  his  intellectual  energies.  This  measure  he  succeeded 
to  introduce  before  the  passage  of  the  Force  Bill.  Its  healing 
character  doubtless  tempered  the  acrimony  of  debate  upon  that 
bill,  and  avoided  any  disastrous  results  from  its  passage. 
Many  will  contend  that  the  principle  and  policy  of  this  famous 
COMPROMISE  were  alike  wrong,  but  none  will  deny  to  its  dis 
tinguished  author  a  magnanimous  intention,  nor  to  the  measure 
itself  a  conciliatory  result.  It  afforded  to  both  of  the  two  dis 
tinguished  parties  to  this  fierce  controversy  the  opportunity  of 
withdrawal,  without  personal  dishonor  or  civil  war — an  oppor 
tunity  neither  was  reluctant  to  embrace. 


General  Jackson  took  an  early  opportunity  to  express  in 


250  CHAPTER  xrr. 

person  to  Mr.  "Webster,  his  sincere  gratitude  for  the  eminent 
services  rendered  by  that  gentleman,  in  such  perilous  moment, 
to  his  administration  ;  and  Mr.  Livingston,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  repeatedly,  and  in  warm  terms,  made  his  own  acknow 
ledgments  besides.  In  truth,  it  was  conceded  everywhere  that, 
but  for  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  of  the  friends  who 
rallied  under  him,  the  administration  would  have  fallen  into  a 
powerless  and  pitiable  condition  ;  an  object  of  opprobrium  to 
its  friends,  and  of  safe  insult  to  its  foes. 

A  community  of  sentiment  and  action,  in  this  fearful  crisis 
of  our  national  history,  brought  General  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Webster  into  stricter  intimacy,  social  and  political,  than  had 
previously  ever  subsisted  between  them.  Some  of  the  Gene 
ral's  friends  hoped,  and  more  feared,  a  closer  official  relation 
ship.  In  May  of  this  year,  Mr.  Webster  journeyed  West ; 
returning  in  June,  he  met  Mr.  Livingston  in  New  York,  then 
preparing  to  depart  on  his  mission  to  France.  It  was  under 
stood  at  this  time,  in  private  and  confidential  circles,  that,  be 
fore  leaving  Washington,  Mr.  Livingston  had  had  frequent  and 
earnest  conversations  with  General  Jackson  in  relation  to  Mr. 
Webster's  position  ;  and  that  he  had  urged  upon  him  the  abso 
lute  necessity  of  securing  Mr.  Webster's  continued  support  of 
his  administration.  To  his  suggestions  General  Jackson  gave 
a  favorable  ear  and  acquiescence  ;  and  authorized  Mr.  Living 
ston  to  approach  Mr.  Webster  upon  the  subject.  These 
conversations  and  their  result,  Mr.  Livingston,  in  his  inter 
view  with  him  in  New  York,  communicated  to  Mr.  Webster. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  251 

That  a  seat  in  the  cabinet  was  at  the  same  time  proposed  to 
Mr.  Webster,  on  the  part  of  the  President,  through  the  same 
medium  of  communication,  was  a  belief  warmly  entertained 
by  some  of  the  nearest  friends  of  both  parties.  One  fact  it  is 
allowable  to  mention  ;  a  distinguished  Senator,  a  political  and 
personal  friend  of  General  Jackson,  brought  Mr.  Webster  a 
list  of  the  intended  nominees  for  offices  in  the  Eastern  States, 
and  asked  him  to  erase  therefrom  the  names  of  any,  personally 
objectionable  to  him.  This  Mr.  Webster  declined  to  do,  not 
wishing  to  place  himself  under  any  obligations  to  the  adminis 
tration,  that  might  qualify  the  freedom  of  his  action,  either  in 
support  or  repudiation  of  its  measures. 

On  many  points  of  what  was  then  the  proposed  policy  of  the 
administration,  there  was  no  marked  difference  of  opinion  be 
tween  these  two  eminent  men  ;  in  its  foreign  policy,  particu 
larly,  they  almost  entirely  concurred ;  but  there  was  a  radical 
and  fatal  difference  on  the  great  question  of  the  currency. 
The  measures  General  Jackson  thought  it  necessary  to  take 
to  prevent  pecuniary  loss  to  to  the  country  from  the  unchecked 
operations  of  the  United  States  Bank,  did  not  meet  Mr. 
Webster's  concurrence.  Indeed,  the  removal  of  the  govern 
ment  deposits  from  that  institution,  however  justifiable  on  the 
ground  of  expediency  or  even  necessity,  was  a  measure  of 
such  formidable  energy,  as  to  confound  some  of  the  general's 
longest  tried  and  not  most  timid  supporters.  It  encountered 
Mr.  Webster's  opposition,  and  even  denunciation.  And  this 
honest  difference  of  opinion,  in  regard  to  a  matter  of  tempo- 


252  CHAPTER    XII. 

rary  importance,  prevented  the  union  of  the  two  master 
spirits  of  the  age,  and  blasted  the  patriotic  hopes  of  the  coun- 
try. 

How  much  of  party  animosity  might  have  been  assuaged,  how 
much  of  public  good  promoted,  and  national  honor  how  greatly 
advanced,  by  the  consummation  of  such  an  union  !  How  high 
the  tide  of  public  prosperity  had  risen,  with  such  luminaries 

in  conjunction ! 

The  moral  and  intellectual  attributes  of  one  were  the 
complement  of  the  other.  Not  that  both  did  not  possess 
mental  and  moral  characteristics  of  the  same  nature ;  but 
some  one  quality  would  appear  more  predominant  in  one,  and 
some  other  quality,  equally  distinguished,  in  the  other  ;  both 
more  brilliant  from  contrast. 

History  records  few  instances  of  more  adamantine  will  and 
inflexibility  of  purpose,  than  characterized  Andrew  Jackson. 
Napoleon  himself  had  not  greater,  nor  more  intuitive  know 
ledge  of  men,  or  far-reaching  sagacity.  What  he  willed  he 
accomplished  ;  his  mind  never  faltered,  and  his  purpose  never 
changed. 

He  was  got  up  on  the  statuesque  model  of  a  hero  of  Plu 
tarch.  His  qualities  were  all  clearly  and  boldly  defined  ;  but 
without  extravagance  or  deformity.  There  was  nothing  com 
mon-place  in  his  character  or  thought.  He  acted  and  spoke 
with  the  freshness  and  power  of  genius.  He  dared  every 
thing  ;  yet  to  his  dauntless  nature  there  was  added  a  haughti 
ness  of  spirit  that  withheld  him  from  vulgar  strife.  He 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  253 

rushed  to  his  purpose  like  a  torrent  from  the  mountain  ;  no 
obstacle  could  retard  his  course,  nor  opposition  restrain  hig 
impetuosity.  The  fiery  vehemence  of  his  will  swept  every 
thing  before  it.  Men  gazed  at  its  resistless  career,  and  gave 
way,  overcome  with  apprehension.  To  oppose  him  was  to 
encounter  destiny. 

Such  a  determined  will  and  fearless  nature,  with  attendant 
power,  wanted  but  direction  to  accomplish  miracles  of  good. 

Such  direction  could  have  been  found  in  Mr.  Webster, 
whose  comprehensiveness  of  view,  calmness  of  deliberation, 
sagacity,  and  singleness  of  purpose  had  admirably  qualified 
him  for  a  controlling  adviser.  His  intellectual  majesty  would 
have  secured  the  admiration  of  his  great  ally,  and  tempered 
the  vehemence  of  his  action.  He  would  have  had  the  mind 
to  plan  what  the  other  would  have  had  the  heart  to  execute. 
He  would  have  been  the  engineer  to  give  direction  and  speed 
to  the  locomotive  ;  regulating  its  power,  according  to  the  ob 
stacles  to  be  overcome,  or  the  thing  to  be  accomplished. 

But  no  such  happiness  was  reserved  for  the  country.  A 
strong  schism  supervened  within  a  year  after  Mr.  Webster's 
defence  of  the  administration,  between  him  and  the  Presi 
dent  ;  and  the  country  went  on  in  a  career  of  intermittent 
disaster. 

After  the  adjournment  of  Congress  in  the  spring  of  this 
year  (1833,)  Mr.  Webster  visited  the  West.  No  conqueror 
flushed  with  recent  victories  could  have  had  a  more  triumphal 


i  >4  CHAPTER    XII. 

reception.  His  progress  was  one  ovation.  Cities  poured  out 
their  crowds  on  his  approach,  tendering  hospitality  ;  and  mu 
nicipal  authorities  entertained  him  while  he  tarried.  Invitations 
soliciting  a  visit  were  sent  to  him  from  every  State  of  the 
West,  expressed  in  warm  and  urgent  language.  At  Buffalo, 
a  public  dinner  and  other  courtesies  were  extended  to  him. 
His  brief  visit  compelled  him  to  decline  the  dinner ;  but  he 
addressed  the  citizens  of  the  place,  and  was  responded  to  with 
enthusiasm.  At  Pittsburgh,  in  Pennsylvania,  he  was  re 
ceived  with  even  more  marked  distinction.  The  citizens 
turned  out  en  masse,  and  waited  for  his  arrival  at  a  spacious 
grove,  where  a  handsome  entertainment  was  prepared  for  him. 
The  mayor  of  the  city,  in  presenting  him  to  the  crowd,  ad 
dressed  to  them  these,  among  other  words  :  "  Gentlemen,  we 
are  this  day  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  Union  is 
safe.  Not  a  star  has  fallen  from  that  proud  banner  around 
which  our  affections  have  so  long  rallied.  And  when,  with 
this  delightful  assurance,  we  cast  our  eyes  back  upon  the 
eventful  history  of  the  last  year — when  we  recall  the  gloomy 
apprehensions,  and  perhaps  hopeless  despondency,  which  came 
over  us,  who,  gentlemen,  can  learn,  without  a  glow  of  enthu 
siasm,  that  the  great  champion  of  the  Constitution — that 
DANIEL  WEBSTER,  is  now  in  the  midst  of  us.  To  his  mighty 
intellect,  the  nation,  with  one  voise,  confided  its  cause  of  life 
or  death.  Ours  is  a  government  not  of  force,  but  of  opinion 
The  reason  of  the  people  must  be  satisfied  before  a  call  to 
arms  This  consideration  is  it  that  imparts  to  intellectual 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  255 

pre-eminence  in  the  service  of  truth  its  incalculable  value. 
And  hence  the  preciousness  of  that  admirable  and  unanswer 
able  exposition,  which  has  put  down,  once  and  forever,  the 
artful  sophisms  of  nullification." 

In  reply,  Mr.  Webster  said,  in  allusion  to  General  Jackson's 
conduct  during  the  perilous  crisis  of  nullification  :  "  Gentle 
men,  the  President  of  the  United  States  was,  as  it  seemed  to 
me,  at  this  eventful  crisis,  true  to  his  duty.  He  comprehend 
ed  and  understood  the  case,  and  met  it  as  it  was  proper  to 
meet  it.  While  I  am  as  willing  as  others  to  admit  that  the 
President  has,  on  other  occasions,  rendered  important  services 
to  the  country,  and  especially  on  that  occasion  which  has  given 
him  so  much  military  renown,  I  yet  think  the  ability  and  de 
cision  with  which  he  resisted  the  disorganizing  doctrines  of 
nullification,  created  a  claim,  than  which  he  has  none  higher, 

*  *  O  7 

to  the  gratitude  of  the  country,  and  the  respect  of  posterity. 
The  issuing  of  the  proclamation  of  the  10th  of  December, 
inspired  me,  I  confess,  with  new  hopes  for  the  duration  of  the 
Piepublic.  I  would  not  be  understood  to  speak  of  ^particular 
clauses  and  phrases  in  the  proclamation :  but  its  great  and 
leading  doctrines,  I  regard  as  the  true  and  only  true  doctrines 
of  the  Constitution.  They  constitute  the  sole  ground  on 
which  dismemberment  can  be  resisted.  Nothing  else,  in  my 
opinion,  can  hold  us  together.  While  those  opinions  are  en 
tertained,  the  Union  will  last ;  when  they  shall  be  generally 
rejected  and  abandoned,  that  Union  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  a 
temporary  majority  in  any  one  of  the  States." 


256  CHAPTER    XII. 

At  other  places  which  he  visited  he  was  received  with  no 
Jess  consideration.  His  engagements  at  home  prevented  him 
from  accepting  the  greater  part  of  the  invitations  extended 
him,  and  compelled  him,  reluctantly,  to  return. 

All  this  was  the  grateful  response  of  the  people  to  a  meri 
torious  servant.  It  was  the  expression  of  their  opinion  of  the 
value  and  extent  of  his  services — the  voluntary  homage  of  their 
heart.  These,  however,  were  not  the  first  testimonials  of  pub 
lic  gratitude  for  great  constitutional  services  Mr.  Webster  had 
received.  For  his  previous  effort  in  defence  of  the  Constitution, 
ho  had  been  honored  with  the  grateful  thanks  of  some  of  the 
wisest  and  best  men  of  the  country.  The  year  following  his 
reply  to  Mr.  Hayne,  he  was  invited  by  a  large  number  of  the 
most  respectable  citizens  of  New  York  and  its  vicinity,  among 
whom  were  many  distinguished  gentlemen  of  both  political 
parties,  to  meet  them  at  a  festival,  offered  to  him  as  an  ex 
pression  of  their  great  gratification  at  the  course  he  had  pur 
sued  in  that  memorable  Constitutional  contest.  Chancellor 
Kent,  who  presided  on  the  occasion,  on  addressing  their  guest, 
alluded  in  this  felicitous  manner  to  his  speech  :  "  It  turned  the 
attention  of  the  public  to  the  great  doctrines  of  natural  rights 
and  national  union.  Constitutional  law  ceased  to  remain 
wrapped  up  in  the  breasts,  and  taught  only  by  the  responses, 
of  the  living  oracles  of  the  law.  Socrates  was  said  to  have 
drawn  philosophy  from  the  skies,  and  scattered  it  among  the 
schools.  It  may,  with  equal  truth,  be  said,  that  Constitutional 
law,  by  means  of  these  Senatorial  discussions,  and  the  master- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  257 

genius  that  guided  them,  was  rescued  from  the  archives  of  our 
tribunals  and  the  libraries  of  lawyers,  and  placed  under  the 
eye,  and  submitted  to  the  judgment,  of  the  American  people. 
Their  verdict  is  with  us,  and  from  it  there  lies  no  appeal." 

And  another  writer,  hardly  less  eminent,  Mr.  Everett,  has 
said  of  his  arguments  on  the  same,  and  later  occasions  :  "  The 
student  of  Constitutional  law  will  ever  resort  to  the  speeches 
of  Mr.  Webster  with  the  same  deference  that  he  pays  to  the 
numbers  of  the  Federalist,  and  the  opinions  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall.  *  *  *  The  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun 
and  the  speech  on  the  Protest,  are  like  leaves  of  the  Consti 
tution.  They  are  authorities  rather  than  illustrations.  While 
we  are  engaged  in  perusing  them,  everything  like  mere  dis 
course,  however  ingenious,  forcible,  or  ornate,  seems  compara 
tively  insipid." 

With  such  demonstrations  of  public  gratitude,  and  such  ex 
pressions  of  warm  encomium,  were  Mr.  Webster's  conduct  and 
speeches  on  these  two  momentous  occasions  received  through 
out  the  country.  All  conceded  to  him  ardent  patriotism,  in 
corruptible  integrity,  and  unequalled  ability.  An  emergency 
never  arises  without  its  accompanying  and  controlling  spirit ; 
and  DANIEL  WEBSTER  seems  to  have  been  alone,  of  all  the 
country,  the  man  for  each  perilous  crisis.  But  for  him,  Nulli 
fication,  decorated  and  recommended  by  its  two  most  ingenious 
and  accomplished  champions,  might  have  seduced  the  affec 
tions  of  the  people,  and  gained  a  permanent  existence,  to  the 

inevitable  disruption  of  the  Union.     But. for  him,  our  fathers' 
12 


258  CHAPTER    XII. 

legacy,  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES — the 
great  charter  of  political  and  social  right — might  have  become 
a  dishonored  and  worthless  parchment  And  but  for  him, 
constitutional  and  republican  liberty — as  it  exists  with  us, 
the  last  hope  of  nations, — might  have  become  a  hissing  and  a 
reproach  throughout  the  world.  It  was  not  without  cause, 
then,  that  the  country,  with  an  almost  univocal  expression  of 
its  sentiment,  greeted  him  with  the  title — prouder  than  mon 
arch  ever  bestowed — of  "  Defender  of  the  Constitution." 


The  wonderful  interest  felt  in  all  of  Mr.  Webster's  speeches 
springs  from  the  language  as  well  as  the  sentiment.  A 
phrase  often  suggests  abundant  copiousness  of  thought ;  a 
word  gives  rise  to  feelings  inexpressibly  sweet  or  profound, 
like  tunes  in  music  ;  which  recall  times  when  freshness  of 
heart  was  ours,  ere  bitter  experience  had  belied  the  trusting- 
ness  of  earlier  days.  He  borrows  from  no  author,  ancienf 
or  modern,  either  style  or  sentiment ;  and  yet  there  is  no 
speech  of  his  not  impregnated  with  the  afflatus  divinus  of 
classical  antiquity.  The  choicest  productions  of  antiquity 
are  fragrant  of  no  flower  which  does  not  perfume  his  works ; 
because  his  thought,  like  those  of  the  antique  world,  is 
fresh,  original,  earnest,  and  finds  correspondent  articula 
tion. 

The  encomium,  which  Quinctilian  bestowed  upon  the  philo 
sophical  writings  of  Brutus,  "  Scias  eum  sentire  qua  dicit," 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  259 

you  know  that  he  feels  what  he  says — applies  with  greater  truth 
to  Mr.  Webster's  works.  He  has  felt  himself  what  he  make* 
us  feel.  His  whole  heart  is  in  his  language,  and  warms  his 
page.  This  is  the  secret  of  its  wonderful  effect.  The  sacretf 
historian  informs  us  that  "  G-od  gave  Solomon  largeness  oi 
heart ;"  and  we  need  no  other  solution  of  the  popularity  oi 
his  writings,  in  every  clime,  from  generation  to  generation. 
It  requires  a  great  heart  to  express  a  great  truth.  The  learn 
ing  of  the  schools  cannot  supply  the  want  thereof;  the  wis 
dom  of  the  wisest  would  strive  in  vain  to  make  good  its  loss. 
To  enrich  the  understanding,  to  stimulate  or  satisfy  the  ar 
dent  mind,  is  far  easier  than  to  gain  the  heart ;  one  faculty 
can  be  acquired,  the  other  is  innate.  You  must  be  born  an 
orator  no  less  than  a  poet;  for  all  of  poetry  is  not  rhythm, 
nor  all  of  oratory  language.  There  is  something  in  both  that 
eludes  the  most  diligent  and  pertinacious  analysis. 

Compared  with  the  productions  of  the  most  eminent  orators 
of  ancient  or  modern  times,  in  what  respect  is  the  reply  to 
Hayne  inferior  ?  In  what  production  of  ancient  or  modern 
times,  shall  we  look  for  such  a  variety  of  genius  ?  Where 
shall  we  find  such  majestic  simplicity  of  expression,  such 
beauty  of  illustration,  such  appropriateness  of  diction,  where 
such  ideal  beauty  of  thought,  embodied  in  such  pleasing  forms, 
where  such  gigantic  power  of  reasoning,  such  depth  of  pas 
sion,  such  elevation  of  soul 

In  tempestuous  eloquence,  which  carries  away  in  its  uu- 
governed  force,  speaker  no  less  than  hearer,  Demosthenes  un- 


260  CHAPTER    XII. 

doubtedly  surpassed  him ;  it  carefully-elaborated  periods,  in 
equi-ponderance  of  sentences,  in  studied  bursts  of  passion,  as 
well  as  in  general  philosophy,  Cicero  excelled  him.  But  what 
one  work  of  either  of  those  great  masters  of  eloquence  presents 
such  a  combination  of  various  excellencies  as  the  reply  to 
Hayne  ?  In  what  phillipic  of  either,  or  other  immortal  pro 
duction,  shall  we  look  for  its  equal  ? 

Of  Modern  Eloquence,  we  know  nothing  comparable. 
Much  of  Chatham  depends  upon  tradition ;  more,  perhaps, 
upon  partial  reporters  ;  but,  conceding  to  him  all  his  most  ar 
dent  admirers  ever  claimed,  we  still  should  deny  him  much 
reach  of  thought,  or  even  well-sustained  eloquence.  Yoice, 
manner,  gesture,  majesty  of  presence — all  these  he  had  • 
but  all  these  produce  but  a  temporary  effect.  His  elo 
quence  electrified  rather  than  convinced  ;  astonished  more 
than  it  confuted ;  and  mastered  the  passions  rather  than 
the  judgment  of  men.  It  flashed  like  the  lightning,  which 
men  gazed  at  with  a  fearful  interest,  ignorant  of  its  direction ; 
but  once  gone,  the  mind  soon  returned  to  its  previous  thought. 
His  fame  as  an  orator  is  the  greater,  that  he  left  so  little  to 
sustain  it.  Contemporaneous  opinion  has  been  more  favorable 
to  him  than  faithful  record  might  have  been.  No  entire  speech 
of  his  is  extant ;  the  fragmentary  parts  which  we  have,  it  is 
true,  like  the  celebrated  Torso  of  antiquity,  reveal  the  posses 
sion  of  great  genius,  and  forbid  the  hope  of  their  completion 
"by  another  hand.  Still  they  afford  no  sufficient  indication  o* 
what  the  merits  of  tjie  whole  would  have  been. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  26 

The  philosophical  orator  of  England — EDMUND  BURKE — 
whose  magnificent  imagery,  power  of  illustration,  and  vigoi 
of  thought  have  ne?er  been  surpassed,  was  yet  so  warped  by 
prejudice,  was  such  a  self-deluding  sophist,  as  to  leave  no  one 
production,  not  as  much  marred  by  great  defects,  as  charac 
terized  by  inimitable  excellencies.  In  style,  too,  almost  every 
work  of  his  is  as  objectionable  as  in  sentiment.  He  scatters, 
with  a  lavish  hand,  such  a  wasteful  profusion  of  imagery,  as 
to  almost  drown  the  sense  of  his  meaning.  The  mind  is 
puzzled,  wearied  by  the  accumulation  of  illustrations,  and 
loses  all  command  of  the  subject-matter.  No  one  speech  of 
this  great  writer,  not  the  speech  against  Hastings,  can  hold 
the  unwearied  attention  throughout. 

There  can  be  found  in  the  speeches  neither  of  Fox  nor  of 
his  more  distinguished  rival — great  Chatham's  greater  son — 
one,  the  equal  to  this  of  Mr.  Webster's,  in  various  merit. 
Fox  exhibited  at  tunes  more  fiery  declamation  and  more  fervid 
eloquence  ;  Pitt,  more  severity  of  invective  and  a  wider 
range  of  argument ;  but  neither,  on  any  occasion,  ever 
made  a  speech  so  complete  in  every  point. 

Brougham's  speech  on  the  Reform  Bill,  a  masterly  produc 
tion  doubtless,  wants  compactness  of  expression,  and  fidelity 
to  the  main  question  of  debate,  comparatively.  But  there 
are  many  passages  of  great  eloquence  in  it,  and  its  peroration 
is  only  inferior  to  Webster's. 

The  great  charm  of  this  speech,  of  all  speeches  of  Mr. 
Webster,  is  the  ardent  patriotism  and  devotion  to  liberty  that 


2Q2  CHAPTER    XII. 

pervade  them  ;  a  patriotism,  not  of  a  fanatical  but  universal 
character  ;  not  hating  other  countries  from  love  of  natal  soil ; 
but  radiating  from  home  a  feeling  of  charity  and  good  will 
upon  all  mankind  ;  a  devotion  to  liberty,  as  far  removed  from 
licentiousness  as  tyranny — liberty  inseparable  from  virtue, 
from  public  and  private  morals — that  imposes  checks  upon 
itself,  and  guards  against  the  abuse  of  its  own  power. 

It  is  this,  which  gives  to  his  works  their  wide-spread  popu 
larity.  It  is  this  which  has  acclimated  them  everywhere.  It  is 
this  which  has  carried  the  English  language  further  than 
English  arms  have  ever  done  ;  to  regions  of  thick-ribbed  ice, 
where  day  and  night  make  one  sad  division  of  the  year  ;  to  the 
utmost  isles  of  the  sea,  and  lands  beyond  the  solar  road. 

He  has  spoken,  and  enslaved  nations  have  started  from  the 
torpor  of  centuries.  The  down-trodden  Greek  has  heard  his 
voice,  and  risen  upon  his  oppressors.  The  Turkish  hordes 
have  fallen  where  the  Persian  fell ;  and  Marathon  and  Salamis 
shine  with  a  newer  glory,  and  a  wider  emblasonry. 

As  his  words  of  cheering  encouragement  have  crossed  the 
equator  and  penetrated  the  southern  seas,  whole  nations  have' 
thrown  off  the  yoke  of  bondage,  and  achieved  an  independent 
existence.  SOUTH  AMERICA,  emerging  from  beneath  the  hori 
zon  with  its  constellation  of  republics,  has  given  light  and 
gladness  to  the  nations.  His  voice  has  called  a  New  World 
into  existence,  to  compensate  for  the  decline  of  the  old.* 

*  Englishmen  give  this  praise  to  Cuming,  but  hardly  with  as  much 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  263 

It  is  not  yet  hushed  ;  his  words  have  lost  none  of  their 
vital  force.  The  throes  of  Europe  are  their  response.  Sub 
terranean  fires  are  burning  there  with  fatal  activity  ;  which 
burst  out,  ever  and  anon,  in  volcanic  eruptions,  overwhelming 
thrones,  and  destroying  oppressors.  It  may  not  be  long,  ere 
one  universal  conflagration  shall  devour  every  vestige  of 
tyranny,  and  liberated  Europe  spring  up  from  the  ruin,  to  re 
commence  a  more  glorious  career,  and  accomplish  a  surer 
destiny. 

justice  ;  for  our  country  recognized  the  independence  of  the  South  Ameri 
can  Republics  before  Englani. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

IT  was  the  fortune  of  General  Jackson's  administration  to 
have  provoked  or  undergone  more  public  excitement,  spring 
ing  from  causes  of  a  domestic  character,  than  that  of  either 
of  his  predecessors.  A  constant  agitation  pursued  it  through 
out.  The  Hayne  controversy  roused  the  public  mind  from  its 
apathetic  state  under  the  preceding  administration,  and  stimu 
lated  it  to  apprehension  and  entertainment  of  elevated  yet 
fearful  themes.  The  war  of  nullification  followed,  ere  the 
public  pulse  had  recovered  its  accustomed  tone,  and  gave  a 
more  turbulent  motion  to  opinion.  The  passions  excited  by 
this  quarrel  had  not  subsided,  but  swayed  the  minds  of  men 
to  and  fro,  as  if  tempest-tossed,  when  the  REMOVAL  OF  THE 
DEPOSITES  supervened,  and  raised  the  whole  country. 

The  later  history  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  may 
have  reflected  the  necessity  of  this  measure.  Its  subsequent 
mismanagement  and  "explosion  should,  perhaps,  be  holden  a 
retrospective  justification  of  the  decisive  proceeding.  But. 
at  the  time  the  removal  of  the  deposites  took  place,  the  policy 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  265 

ot  the  measure  was  not  generally  understood,  while  the  imme 
diate  consequences  thereof  were  everywhere  felt,  and  felt  dis 
astrously. 

It  was  no  time  for  argument,  however  cogent ;  because  no 
argument  is  listened  to,  when  interest  or  passion  speaks. 
That  the  powers  of  the  Bank  were  too  extensive,  its  immuni 
ties  and  privileges  too  unrestricted,  few  could  now  gainsay. 
Among  the  many  dangerous  powers  enjoyed  by  this  institu 
tion,  the  control  over  the  contraction  and  expansion  of 
the  currency  was  not  the  least  so.  By  the  exercise  of  this 
power  it  could  affect,  to  a  most  calamitous  extent,  the  busi 
ness  of  the  whole  nation.  It  was  a  power  that  existed  not 
merely  in  theory,  but  had  been  felt  in  practice.  In  1818-19, 
the  directors  of  the  institution  availed  themselves  of  its  fatal 
character,  to  enrich  themselves  and  friends,  to  the  great 
calamity  of  the  country  ;  and,  in  1831-32,  to  effect  a  political 
purpose,  nearly  thirty  millions  of  loans  were  made  in  a  few 
months,  and  called  in  again  within  as  brief  a  time  ;  great 
individual  and  national  distress  following  the  experiment.  A 
power  liable  to  such  dangerous  abuse  should  be  checked, 
though  at  the  hazard  of  temporary  inconvenience. 

The  immediate  consequence  of  General  Jackson's  decisive 
act  was,  undoubtedly,  disastrous.  The  country  was  in  a  state 
of  seeming  prosperity,  commercial  and  agricultural ;  but  it 
was  rather  the  hectic  flush  of  consumption,  than  the  color  of 
robust  health. 

All  kinds  of  operations  had  been  stimulated  by  easy  credits. 


266  CHAPTER    XIII. 

Every  branch  of  business  was  pushed  to  its  utmost  extent, 
and  stocks  of  every  kind  inflated,  to  near  the  limits  of  ro 
mance. 

The  withdrawal  of  eight  millions  from  the  bank,  and  the 
vindictive  contraction  of  its  issues  by  the  bank,  broke  the 
bubble  of  speculation,  and  a  collapse  ensued.  A  severe 
pressure  in  the  money  market,  the  consequent  high  rate  of 
interest,  the  depression  of  every  kind  of  stock,  and  the  low 
price  of  commodities,  were  the  immediate  results  of  these 
measures  ;  and,  no  less,  a  strong,  almost  fierce  agitation  of  the 
community. 

The  removal  of  the  deposites  took  place  in  September,  1833  ; 
about  two  months  afterwards,  in  the  greatest  heat  of  the  pub 
lic  feeling  upon  the  subject,  Congress  met.  The  debates  in 
that  body  are  not  only  the  safety  valves  of  public  excitement, 
but  to  an  almost  exclusive  degree,  the  record  of  its  existence. 
What  might  be  otherwise  as  frail  in  memory  as  evanescent  in 
feeling  becomes,  by  incorporation  in  the  proceedings  of  Con 
gress,  a  permanent  fact.  Parliamentary  action,  with  a  free 
people,  is  a  history  of  their  sentiments,  their  wishes,  and,  too 
often,  of  their  follies. 

In  the  earliest  of  this  session,  Mr.  Clay  introduced  a  reso 
lution  into  the  Senate,  calling  upon  the  President  for  a  copy 
of  a  paper  said  to  have  been  read  by  him  to  the  cabinet,  in 
relation  to  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  on  the  18th  of  Sep 
tember  preceding ;  which  resolution  he  supported  in  an 
animated  speech.  It  was  carried,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-three 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  267 

to  eighteen.  The  State  Rights  men,  who  had  not  forgotten 
or  forgiven  General  Jackson's  decided  course  in  the  South 
Carolina  controversy  left  the  "  Treasury  Benches"  in  a  body, 
and  went  over  to  the  opposition ,  thereby  reducing  the 
strength  of  the  administration  in  the  Senate  to  a  minority. 

The  answer  of  General  Jackson  to  the  resolution  of  the 
Senate  was  characteristic :  "  The  Executive"— he  said,  in 
his  communication  to  the  Senate,  "  is  a  co-ordinate  and 
independent  branch  of  the  Government  equally  with  the 
Senate  ;  and  I  have  yet  to  learn  under  what  constituted  au 
thority  that  branch  of  the  legislature  has  a  right  to  require  of 
me  an  account  of  any  communication,  either  verbally  or  iu 
writing,  made  to  the  heads  of  departments  acting  as  a  cabinet- 
council.  As  well  might  I  be  required  to  detail  to  the  Senate 
the  free  and  private  conversation  I  have  held  with  those 
officers  on  any  subjects  relating  to  their  duties  and  my  own." 

With  this  implied,  if  not  direct,  rebuke  of  the  Senate  for 
its  unconstitutional  interference  in  matters  strictly  executive, 
General  Jackson  declined  compliance  with  the  resolution. 

His  answer  was  received  by  the  Senate  with  no  demonstra 
tion  of  disrespectful  anger  ;  but  in  calmness  and  necessary 
acquiescence. 

In  the  document  which  General  Jackson  submitted  to  his 
cabinet  previous  to  the  removal  of  the  deposites — an  official 
copy  of  which  Mr.  Clay  had  been  unable  to  obtain  for  the 
Senate — he  said  :  u  The  President  deems  it  his  duty  to  com 
municate  in  this  manner  to  his  cabinet,  the  final  conclusions 


268  CHAPTER    XIII. 

of  his  own  mind,  and  the  reasons  on  which  they  are  founded ;" 
and,  in  concluding  his  address  to  them,  he  said :  "  The  Pre 
sident  again  repeats  that  he  begs  his  cabinet  to  consider  the 
proposed'measure  as  his  own^  in  support  of  which  he  shall  re 
quire  no  one  of  them  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  opinion  or  princi 
ple.  Its  responsibility  has  been  assumed,  after  the  most 

• 
mature  deliberation   and  reflection,  as  necessary  to  preserve 

the  morals  of  the  people,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  the 
purity  of  the  elective  franchise  ;  without  which,  all  will  unite 
in  saying  that  the  blood  and  treasure  expended  by  our  fore 
fathers,  in  the  establishment  of  our  happy  system  of  govern 
ment,  will  have  been  vain  and  fruitless."  A  fierce  clamor 
was  raised  against  the  President  for  the  communication  of 
these  sentiments,  by  the  less  moderate  of  the  Opposition,  in 
and  out  of  Congress.  They  denounced  him  as  an  usurper  of 
powers  unrecognized  by  the  Constitution  ;  and  charged  upon 
him  the  intention  of  overthrowing  the  liberties  of  the  country. 
Heated  faction  poured  forth  against  him  its  choicest  language 
of  abuse,  likening  him  to  every  variety  of  tyrant,  lands 
most  fertile  in  such  products,  ever  nourished  ;  so  that  many 
honest,  though  most  credulous  people,  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  were  sadly  imposed  upon.  The  fanaticism  of 
party  never  achieved  a  more  decided  victory  over  sober 
truth. 

But  truth  has  this  advantage  over  error  ;  its  conquests,  if 
not  so  rapid,  are  permanent.  And  now  that  the  delusion  of 
Mhe  moment  has  passed  away,  with  the  excitement  of  which  it 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  269 

was  engendered,  and  reason  has  regained  her  sometime  usurped 
authority,  the  conduct  of  General  Jackson,  in  this  menacing 
exigency  of  affairs,  stands  out  boldly  in  the  historical  picture, 
reflecting  courage,  capacity,  and  marvellous  foresight. 

He  was  the  man  for  a  crisis.  He  feared  nothing,  he  doubt 
ed  nothing ;  he  dared  everything.  He  sought  no  evasion,  he 
shunned  no  risk.  He  interposed  no  screen,  no  defence 
between  himself  and  his  enemies ;  but  advancing  to  the 
very  front  of  the  battle,  he  defied  them  all :  "  I  am  here, 
who  have  done  this  thing  ;  against  me.  against  me,  turn  your 
weapons."  He  courted  danger  like  a  mistress. 

He  thought  the  deposites  unsafe  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank, 
and  removed  them.  He  found  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
too  timid  to  incur  his  share  of  the  responsibility,  and  removed 
him.  He  knew  what  denunciation  awaited  him  from  rancorous 
opponents  ;  what  lukewarm  support  from  timorous  friends. 
He  knew  too  his  duty,  and,  heedless  alike  of  fierce  enmity  or 
half-faced  fellowship,  dared  perform  it. 

Not  discouraged,  though  defeated  in  his  first  attack,  Mr. 
Clay  renewed  his  assaults  upon  the  administration  for  its  con 
duct  in  the  matter  of  the  public  funds,  with  increased  vigor. 
His  indomitable  courage  and  towering  intellect,  with  his  great 
Parliamentary  tact,  admirably  qualified  him  for  the  post  of 
leader,  and  made  him  no  unworthy  competitor  of  General 
Jackson  himself.  Foiled  in  one  attack,  he  fell  back,  to  as 
sume  a  better  position,  and  make  defeat  itself  the  handmaid  of 
victory 


270  CHAPTER    XJH. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  he  offered  in  the  Senate  the  fol, 
lowing  resolutions : 

1.  Resolved,  That  by  dismissing  the  late   Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  because  he  would  not,  contrary  to  his  sense  of  his 
own  duty,  remove  the  money  of  the  United  States  in  deposit 
with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches,  in  con 
formity  with  the  President's  opinion,  and  by  appointing  his 
successor  to  effect  such  removal,  which  has  been  done,  the 
President  has  assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the  Trea 
sury  of  the  United  States,  not  granted  to  him  by  the  Consti 
tution  and  laws,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  Secretary  of 
the   Treasury  for  the  removal  of  the  money  of  the   United 
States,  deposited  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and   its 
branches,  communicated  to  Congress    on   the  third    day    of 
December,  1833,  are  unsatisfactory  and  insufficient. 

These  resolutions  Mr.  Clay  enforced  in  one  of  the  strongest 
arguments  of  his  life.  He  gave  his  whole  heart  to  the  speech. 
His  burning  eloquence  carried  away  his  audience,  and  loud 
plaudits  from  the  gallery  accompanied  and  interrupted  him. 
These  demonstrations  of  sympathy  were  of  course  immediately 
suppressed  by  the  chair,  who  could  not,  however,  prevent  en 
tirely  their  recurrence. 

He  passed  from  wit  to  argument,  from  satire  to  denunciation, 
"  from  lively  to  severe,"  with  such  rapidity  that  extremes 
seemed  to  touch,  and  laughter  and  indignation  almost  com- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  271 

mingled.      He  put  forth   the  whole  variety  of  his  intellect, 
omitting  nothing,  stinting  nothing,  exaggerating  nothing. 

His  illustrations  were  peculiarly  felicitous.  The  civil  and 
loving  expressions  with  which  General  Jackson  ejected  Mr. 
Duane — his  recusant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury — reminded 
him.  he  said,  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characters  which 
our  species  has  produced :  "  When  Oliver  Cromwell  was  con 
tending  for  the  mastery  in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  (I  do  not 
remember  which,)  he  besieged  a  certain  Catholic  town.  The 
place  made  a  brave  and  stout  resistance  ;  but,  at  length,  be 
ing  likely  to  be  taken,  the  poor  Catholics  proposed  terms  of 
capitulation,  among  which  was  one  stipulating  for  the  tolera 
tion  of  their  religion.  The  paper  containing  the  conditions 
being  presented  to  Oliver,  he  put  on  his  spectacles,  and,  after 
deliberately  examining  them,  cried  out,  '  Oh,  yes,  granted, 
granted,  certainly ;  but,"  he  added  with  stern  determination, 
"  if  one  of  them  shall  dare  be  found  attending  mass,  he  shall 
be  instantly  hanged." 

There  were  many  not  less  apposite  than  this,  and  some 
more  illustrative  of  the  points  he  made  in  his  argument.  He 
was  listened  to  throughout  with  profound  attention. 

His  speech  was  more  argumentative  than  usual,  less  rhetori 
cal.  He  seemed  conscious  that  the  importance  of  the  con 
troversy  required  all  the  skill  in  dialectics  he  could  boast; 
ind,  with  that  admirable  tact  in  the  election  of  the  proper 
rtyle  of  oration  which  distinguishes  him,  he  made  a  sound, 
Laical,  perspicuous  argument ;  relieved,  occasionally,  it  is 


272  CHAPTER  xin. 

true,  with  some  ardent  declamation,  pungent  satire,  or  bril 
liant  fancy. 

But,  after  all,  Mr.  Clay's  style,  whether  of  thought  or 
manner,  is  not  senatorial.  It  lacks  dignity,  elevation,  gravity 
His  speech  is  often  too  colloquial,  and  even  in  some  of  its  most 
effective  passages,  disfigured  by  provincialisms.  He  was 
never  a  scholar  ;  has  never  studied  those  chaste  models  of 
style,  the  ancient  classics,  and,  consequently  knows,  but  im 
perfectly,  how  grandly  to  express  a  grand  idea.  The  House 
of  Representatives  was  the  theatre  of  his  greatness  and  his 
glory  :  there,  his  emphatic  manner,  his  fervid  eloquence,  his 
earnest,  though  unchastened  thought,  gained  him  an  admiration 
amounting  almost  to  enthusiasm.  Polish  of  style  or  accuracy 
of  expression,  was  unnoticed  or  forgiven,  in  the  abandon  of 
feeling  which  his  bold  imagery,  his  vehement  denunciation, 
and  passionate  appeals  produced.  As  a  popular  speaker,  he 
has  had  hardly  an  equal,  certainly,  no  superior. 

How  different  in  manner,  in  thought,  and  in  diction,  Mr 
Calhoun  appeared  !  The  fertile  brevity  of  his  expression,  his 
power  of  thought,  and  the  severe  simplicity  of  his  manner 
placed  him  in  violent  contrast  to  his  sometime  rival.  His 
speech  had  all  the  terseness  of  Tacitus,  without  his  obscurity. 
It  was  illustrated  more  by  axioms  than  imagery.  Yet  his 
language  was  so  well-selected,  so  appropriate,  so  full  of  deco 
rous  words,  that  it  required  no  other  ornament. 

He  made  a  great  argument  on  this  occasion,  saying  more  in 
two  ho-irs  than  almost  anv  other  Senator  in  two  davs.  In  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  273 

beginning,  he  defined  his  position :  "  I  stand  wholly  discon 
nected  with  the  two  great  political  parties  now  contending  for 
ascendancy.  My  political  connections  are  with  that  small 
and  denounced  party,  which  has  voluntarily  wholly  retired 
from  the  party  strifes  of  the  day,  with  a  view  of  saving,  if 
possible,  the  liberty  and  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  in 
this  great  crisis  of  our  affairs." 

Alluding  to  the  claim  put  forward  by  the  friends  of  the  ad 
ministration,  that  in  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  it  undertook 
to  defend  and  guard  the  rights  of  States  against  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  Federal  Government,  Mr.  Calhoun  spoke  with 
unwonted  energy.  "  The  administration  the  guardians  and 
defenders  of  the  rights  of  the  States  !  What  shall  I  call  it 
— audacity  or  hypocrisy  ?  The  authors  of  the  proclamation, 
the  guardians  and  defenders  of  the  rights  of  the  States  !  The 
authors  of  the  war  message  against  a  member  of  this  con 
federacy — the  authors  of  the  c  bloody  bill' — the  guardians  and 
defenders  of  the  rights  of  the  States  !  This  a  struggle  for 
State  Rights  !  No,  sir ;  State  Eights  are  no  more.  The 
struggle  is  over  for  the  present.  The  bill  of  the  last  session," 
which  vested  in  the  government  the  right  of  judging  of  the 
extent  of  its  powers,  finally  and  conclusively,  and  gave  it  the 
right  of  enforcing  its  judgment  by  the  sword  ;  destroyed  all 
distinction  between  delegated  and  reserved  rights  ;  concen 
trated  in  the  government  the  entire  power  of  the  system,  and 
prostrated  the  States,  as  poor  and  helpless  corporations,  at  tha 
foot  of  this  sovereignty." 


274  CHAPTER    XIII. 

His  argument  on  this  occasion  was  not  disfigured  by  the 
painful  abstractions  of  his  usual  speech.  He  held  close  to 
his  subject,  which  he  illustrated  with  great  power.  The  mind 
of  the  audience  followed  him  throughout. 

O 

Four  times  the  space  that  measures  day  and  night,  did  Mr. 
Benton  address  the  Senate.  The  speech  was  an  able  one  ;  so 
much  so,  that  his  audience  almost  forgave  him  the  want  of 
ability  to  condense  it.  He  left  little  of  financial  history  or 
operations  untouched  ;  and  he  commented  upon  little  that  he 
did  not  strengthen.  Nor  was  it,  to  all  minds,  the  least  con 
siderable  merit  of  the  speech  that  it  allowed  resting  places 
to  the  attention.  The  distinguished  orator  would  sometimes 
recapitulate — repeat  in  a  variety  of  forms  his  argument — 
during  which  times  the  mind  could  recruit  its  somewhat  ex 
hausted  force,  and  renew  its  capacity  to  apprehend.  With 
Mr.  Calhoun,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  no  respite  to  the  at 
tention.  The  mind  that  would  comprehend  his  argument, 
must  listen  to  each  word  of  his  speech.  Each  sentence  is  so 
much  dependent  upon  the  preceding,  that  the  loss  of  ono 
link  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  argument,  and  mars  the 
whole  effect. 

The  great  excitement  prevailing  in  the  country  upon  the 
removal  of  the  deposites,  was  no  where  more  intense  than  in 
the  metropolis.  Hither  resorted  persons  from  all  sections  of 
the  country,  most  of  whom,  at  this  period,  were  violent  par 
tisans.  The  Senate-chamber  was  not  saved  from  the  ebulition 
of  angry  feeling,  which  exhibited  itself  sometimes  in  boiste- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  275 

rous  applause  of  one  speaker,  and  sometimes  m  nerce  con 
demnation  of  another.  A  tumultuous  spirit  threatened  to 
overawe  the  Senate. 

This  spirit,  so  derogatory  to  the  character  of  the  Senate, 
and  so  revolutionary  in  its  tendencies,  the  Yice-President, 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  determined  to  put  down.  He  warned  the 
galleries  to  forbear  all  expression  of  opinion  concerning  matters 
in  debate,  or  persons  participating  therein.  Another  viola 
tion  of  the  respect  due  the  Senate,  he  said,  should  be  follow 
ed  by  the  instant  clearing  of  the  galleries.  To  this  end,  he 
had  instructed  the  officers  of  the  Senate,  who  would  take 
good  care  his  orders  were  carried  out.  His  determination  of 
tone  and  manner  quieted  the  crowd,  who  afterwards  offered  no 
interruption  to  the  proceedings  or  debates  of  the  Senate. 

A  model  presiding  officer  was  Mr.  Yan  Buren.  The  at 
tentive  manner  in  which  he  listened,  or  seemed  to  listen, 
to  each  successive  speaker,  no  matter  how  dull  the  sub 
ject,  or  how  stupid  the  orator,  the  placidity  of  his  coun 
tenance,  unruffled  in  the  midst  of  excitement,  the  modest 
dignity  of  his  deportment,  the  gentlemanly  ease  of  his  address, 
his  well-modulated  voice  and  sympathetic  smile,  extorted  ad 
miration  from  even  an  opposing  Senate  ;  while  the  proper 
firmness  he  displayed  on  all  occasions,  the  readiness  with  which 
he  met  and  repulsed  any  attack  upon  privileges  or  dignity  of 
the  Chair,  the  more  conspicuous  in  contrast  with  the  quiet  in 
difference  with  which  he  entertained  any  merely  personal 
assault,  gained  him  tho  good  will  of  all  beholders. 


276  CHAPTER    XIU. 

He  had  served  an  apprenticeship  to  his  high  office  by  a 
senatorial  career  of  six  years,  and  qualified  himself  by  the 
proper  discharge  of  the  duties  of  one  position  for  the  more  re 
sponsible  duties  of  the  other.  The  peculiar  delicacy  and 
decorum  which  he  had  manifested  during  that  term  of  service 
in  times  of  high  party  excitement,  and  in  a  decided  minority, 
had  won  him  great  renown,  and  seemed  to  justify  the  general 
belief  that  he  was  intended  for  a  larger  sphere  of  action. 
Always  self-controlled,  he  never  uttered  a  word,  direct  or  by 
inuendo,  either  from  premeditation  or  in  the  heat  of  excite 
ment,  which  need  have  wounded  the  feelings  of  a  political 
opponent,  in  open  or  in  secret  session.  Master  of  his  own 
passions,  he  soon  learnt  to  command  those  of  other  men. 
By  study  of  himself,  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  mankind. 
With  a  countenance  always  open,  and  thought  always  conceal 
ed,  he  invited  without  returning,  confidence.  Indeed,  the 
character  the  great  modern  poet  gives  to  one  of  his  heroes 
will  serve  as  an  epitome,  mutatis  mutandis,  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren's : 

"  He  was  the  mildest-mannered  man, 
That  ever  scuttled  ship  or  cut  a  throat ; 
With  such  true  feelings  of  the  gentleman, 
You  rarely  could  divine  his  real  thought." 


Virginia  divided  on  this  question  of  the  removal  of  the  d«- 
posites,  as  she  had  done  on  the  Force  Bill.  Rives,  now.  as 
then,  stood  by  the  administration.  Tyler  contended  both 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  277 

times,  he  said,  for  the  Constitution.  Rives  made,  perhaps, 
the  strongest  argument  in  defence  of  the  President's  policy, 
of  the  whole  party.  He  was  logical,  candid,  profound  ;  and 
divided  opinion  even  with  Mr  Calhoun.  As  a  constitutional 
argument,  his  effort  deserved  great  praise.  No  one  ever  bet 
ter  explained  the  theory  of  executive  power ;  strengthening 
his  opinion,  as  he  did,  with  the  dicta  of  Madison,  and  other 
earliest  and  most  eminent  commentators  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  He  denied  that  General  Jackson  had  transcended 
the  constitutional  limits  of  his  office,  in  the  removal  of  the 
deposites,  and  compelled  the  Opposition  to  fall  back  upon  the 
impolicy  and  abruptness  of  that  proceeding.  His  speech  on 
the  Force  Bill  had  given  a  promise  of  excellence  which  this 
more  than  confirmed. 

Nor  did  his  colleague,  Mr.  Tyler,  make  an  indifferent 
speech.  He  hauled  closer  to  the  wind  than  usual,  and  lost 
less  time  and  less  power  in  unnecessary  diversions.  He  spoke 
with  much  animation  and  earnestness  of  manner.  "  We  are 
told,"  he  said,  "  of  the  great  power  of  the  Bank,  sir  ;  is  there 
QO  danger  from  power  in  any  other  direction  ?  Are  gentlemen 
blind  to  the  power  of  the  President  ?  In  its  mildest  form  it  is 
immense  ;  look  into  the  Blue  Book  ;  count  up  the  number  of 
his  retainers — of  those  who  live  only  by  his  smile,  and  perish 
by  his  frown — here  are  forty  thousand  public  officers  of  the 
government.  The  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  who  agitated  Europe 
in  the  time  of  the  Henrys  of  England  and  the  Philips  and 
Louises  of  France,  could  not  count  so  many.  The  Earl  of 


278  CHAPTER    XIIT. 

Warwick,  the  king-maker  of  England,  had  not  one  fourth  so 
many."  Power,  it  is  said,  corrupts  its  possessor.  Of  this, 
the  Syrian,  who,  yet  unused  to  it,  replied  incredulously  and 
indignantly  to  the  prophet,  as  he  predicted  the  enormities  of 
his  coming  reign — "  Is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do 
these  things  ?"  is  not  the  sole  historical  illustration.  Little 
did  the  orator  think,  on  this  occasion,  while  he  fulminated 
against  the  abuse  of  power  by  Greneral  Jackson,  how  soon  he 
should  be  subjected  to  its  dangerous  exercise.  If  he  went 
through  the  ordeal,  with  less  of  self-reproach  or  public  op 
probrium  than  ho  whose  conduct  he  so  strongly  reprobated, 
history  will  mitigate  its  damnatory  records  of  gross  abuse  of 
power  with  one  instance^of  glorious  self-control. 

Mr.  Rives'  speech  on  this  occasion  cost  him  his  seat  in 
the  Senate.  The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  with  the  petty  in 
tolerance  that  distinguishes  the  ignorant,  "  instructed"  him 
out  of  it — the  only  kind  of  instruction,  perhaps,  it  was  in  its 
power  to  render  him.  His  rebound,  however,  was  greater 
than  his  fall ;  for,  soon  after,  he  was  called  upon  by  the  Presi 
dent,  to  exert,  for  the  benefit  of  his  country,  in  an  eminent 
position  abroad,  those  rare  qualities  which  the  ingratitude  of 
his  State  would  not  suffer  him  to  display  in  a  subordinate  posi 
tion  at  home.  He  avenged  himself  upon  his  State,  which 
refused  his  service,  by  enhancing  the  glory  of  her  nani^  and 
promoting  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  which,  on  her  ostra 
cism,  had  adopted  him 

Much  agitation,  all   the  while  the  debate  was   goinx   on. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  279 

excited  the  mind  of  GeneralJackson.  As  reports  of  speeches 
were  daily  made  to  him,  he  betrayed  more  or  less  emotion 
according  to  their  character.  He  spoke  in  terms  somewhat 
objurgatory  of  Mr.  Clay's  speech  ;  of  Mr.  Calhoun's,  in  terms 
decidedly  so.  In  truth,  a  reservation  of  his  sentiments  was 
not  a  common  fault  with  General  Jackson.  It  might  rather 
have  been  complained,  that  the  language  in  which  he  gave 
th  ^m  utterance  was  sometimes  too  strong,  too  vehement,  too 
personal.  It  was  illustrated  with  expressions  that  had  been 
better  omitted.  "  Our  army  swore  terribly  in  Flanders ;" 
and  it  is  not  to  be  disguised,  that  G-eneral  Jackson  transferred 
to  civil  life  the  habit  he  acquired  in  camps,  of  too  energetic 
epithets.  It  was,  however,  only  in  moments  of  great  excite 
ment,  when  reason  is,  as  it  were,  for  a  time  in  abeyance,  that 
he  indulged  in  a  habit  so  reprehensible  in  a  gentleman,  so  un 
becoming,  and,  from  example,  so  pernicious,  in  the  highest 
officer  of  the  government. 

But  for  Mr.  Calhoun,  General  Jackson,  at  this  time,  en 
tertained  a  theological  hatred.  Ordinary  language,  he  feared, 
could  not  give  it  adequate  revelation.  It  must  be  character 
ized,  he  thought,  by  language  no  less  decided  than  itself.  It 
could  not  find  vent  in  hostile  action,  or  he  would  have  gratified 
it  otherwise  than  in  words.  Words  were  the  only  outlet  to 
his  anger,  and  he  selected  the  most  expressive. 

General  Jackson  felt  a  stronger  personal  interest  in  this 
debate  than  in  the  debate  upon  the  Fcrce  Bill.  In  that  more 
important  interests  were  agitated,  but  none  to  affect  him  per- 


280  CHAPTER  xrrr. 

sonally  so  near.  The  defeat  of  bis  recommendations  on  that 
occasion,  would,  undoubtedly,  very  materially,  have  weakened 
the  moral  force  of  bis  administration,  if  it  had  not  destroyed 
it  wholly  ;  but  the  personal  consequences  might  not  have  been 
so  disastrous  as  they  threatened  to  be  in  this.  The  responsi 
bility  of  his  action,  on  that  occasion,  was  shared  by  his  cabi 
net,  by  the  larger  portion  of  his  own  party,  and  by  the  almost 
unanimous  strength  of  the  Opposition,  and  applauded  by  tho 
country  generally.  Had  he  failed  of  success,  the  sympathy  in 
his  favor  would,  in  a  very  short  period,  have  even  added  to 
his  already  formidable  popularity,  and  temporary  discomfiture 
been  succeeded  by  permanent  and  almost  illimitable  power. 

But  the  removal  of  the  deposites  he  had  assumed  as  his 
own  act.  He  had  relieved,  by  open  proclamation,  his  cabinet 
from  any  participation  in  it.  It  was  an  act,  he  well  knew, 
which  many  of  his  friends  hesitated  to  defend,  while  it  ren 
dered  a  fierce  opposition  still  fiercer.  Nor  was  the  country 
generally,  he  could  not  but  feel,  as  on  the  former  occasion, 
disposed  to  warmly  concur  in  his  action.  A  panic  seized  the 
financial  and  commercial  interests,  and  affected,  indeed,  more 
or  less  disastrously,  every  class  of  the  community ;  a  panic 
encouraged  and  exaggerated  by  the  retaliatory  measures  of 
the  Bank,  so  that  an  entire  stagnation  of  all  trade  and  opera 
tions  seemed  inevitable. 

The  passage  of  these  resolutions  by  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  a  majority  of  whom  were  his  former  political  friends, 
could  not,  he  thought,  but  prove  injurious  to  his  administration. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  281 

It  wiuld  be  the  first  check,  of  any  important  character,  it  had 
ever  encountered,  since  its  commencement.  The  act  would 
go  forth  to  the  world  as  a  grave,  authoritative,  official  condem 
nation  of  his  conduct.  It  would  lessen  the  magic  influence 
of  his  name,  in  destroying  the  belief  in  its  invincibility,  and 
might  draw  after  it  consequences  alike  disastrous  to  his  ad 
ministration  and  the  party.  To  prevent  the  passage  of  the 
resolutions,  therefore,  was  his  first  hope  ;  and,  failing  in  that, 
tke  next  was,  to  give  them  such  a  character  and  intent,  as  to 
render  them  incapable  of  injury  to  himself,  with  the  country. 

From  the  Nullifiers,  or  State  Rights  party,  in  the  Senate, 
General  Jackson  looked  for  no  support.  He  knew  there  were 
no  harsher  enemies  than  warm  friends  alienated  ;  and  his  for 
mer  intimacy  with  that  party  prepared  him  for  its  vindictive 
opposition  now.  But  there  were  in  the  Senate  three  or  four 
of  no  determined  purpose,  whose  action  awaited  the  superior 
argument,  or  most  conclusive  reasons,  of  one  side  or  the  other. 
With  as  much  integrity  as  the  rest  of  the  Senate,  they  had 
not  been  able  to  come  to  so  early  conclusion  in  regard  to  the 
policy  of  censuring  General  Jackson's  proceedings.  Their 
votes  would  decide  the  contest,  and  consequently  there  was 
an  eager  struggle  on  both  sides  to  obtain  them. 

Mr.  Clay's  resolution  of  censure  originally  read :  Resolved, 
Tbat  by  dismissing  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  be 
cause  he  would  not,  contrary  to  his  sense  of  his  own  duty, 
remove  the  money  of  the  United  States,  in  deposit  with  the 

Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches,  in  conformity 
13 


282  CHAPTER    XIII. 

with  the  President's  opinion  ;  and  by  appointing  his  SUCCGSROI 
to  effect  such  removal,  which  has  been  done,  the  President 
has  assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  not  granted  to  him  by  the  Constitution  and 
laws,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people." 

This  resolution  specified  certain  acts  of  the  President, 
which  it  denounced  as  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws.  The  particular  conclusion  of  fact  or  law,  which  in 
duced  any  Senator  to  vote  for  it,  would  appear  from  the  very 
terms  of  the  resolution. 

The  mover  of  the  resolution,  discovered  during  the  debate, 
ana  particularly  after  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Rives  and  Mr. 
Forsyth,  that,  unless  modified,  it  would  probably  fail — the 
moderates  declining  to  vote  for  it.  He  therefore  modified  it, 
as  follows  : 

"  Resolved — That  in  taking  upon  himself  the  responsibility 
of  removing  the  deposites  of  the  public  money  from  the  IBank 
of  the  United  States,  the  President  of  the  United  States  has 
assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the  Treasury  of  tho 
United  States,  not  granted  to  him  by  the  Constitution  and 
laws,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people." 

This  resolution,  thus  amended,  he  offered  to  the  Senate  to 
wards  the  close  of  the  debate.  It  still  did  not  satisfy  the 
(scrupulous  party,  who  held  the  balance  of  power  between  the 
two  extremes.  The  able  and  legal  argument  of  Mr 
Wright,  of  New  York,  the  last  that  was  made  on  the  pide  ol 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  283 

the  friends  of  the  administration,  threatened  to  secure  tae  re 
jection  of  the  resolution,  even  in  its  amended  form. 

The  politic  leader  of  the  opposition,  always  full  of  re 
sources,  and  always  ready  to  concede  to  tender  consciences 
whatever  would  not  interfere  with  the  prospect  of  triumph 
again  modified  his  resolution,  making  it  read  thus : 

"  Resolved — That  the  President,  in  the  late  executive  pro 
ceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,  has  assumed  upon 
himself  authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the  Constitution 
and  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both." 

The  character  of  these  changes  was  important.  The  first 
omitted  the  specification  on  which  the  general  charge  against 
the  President  of  having  violated  the  Constitution  and  laws 
depended,  but  still  retained  the  clause  that  accused  him  of 
conduct  "  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people."  The 
second  change  not  only  omitted  the  specification,  but  the  im 
peaching  clause — "  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people" — 
besides.  These  changes  were  decisive  of  the  vote.  The  re 
solution  of  censure  finally  passed  on  the  28th  of  March,  1834, 
by  a  vote  of  twenty-six  to  twenty ;  eight  of  the  twenty-six 
having  been  original  Jackson-men. 

The  other  resolution  of  Mr.  Clay,  declaring  the  reasons  as^ 
signed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the  removal  of 
the  deposites  insufficient,  passed  by  a  vote  of  twenty-eight  to 
eighteen. 

In  the  acrimonious  debate  upon  this  occasion,  Mr.  Webster 
took  no  part.  He  could  not  approve  the  act  of  the  President 


284  CHAPTER    XIII. 

ID  removing  the  dcposites,  yet  would  not  join  those  who  seized 
this  opportunity  of  making  a  personal  attack  upon  him.  He 
could  not  but  recollect  that  a  few  short  months  before,  the 
President  and  himself  were  upon  terms  of  cordiality — that 
they  had  reciprocated  mutual  kindnesses  ;  and  he  was  not  pre 
pared  so  early  to  forego  such  grateful  reminiscences,  and 
adopt,  instead  of  friendly  courtesies,  the  language  of  denunci 
ation  and  menace.  To  others,  he  left  the  invidious  task  of 
impunging  the  motives  and  arraigning  the  character  of  General 
Jackson ; — for  himself,  he  was  content  to  record  a  silent  and 
respectful  dissent  to  this  measure  of  his  administration. 

But  the  passage  of  Mr.  Clay's  resolutions  exasperated 
rather  than  allayed  the  division  between  the  Executive  and 
Senate.  To  the  vote  of  censure  passed  upon  his  act  by  the 
Senate,  Gen.  Jackson  sent  to  that  body,  on  the  17th  April, 
1834,  his  memorable  PROTEST.  The  resolution  of  the  Senate, 
he  said,  was  in  substance  an  impeachment  of  the  President ; 
and,  in  its  passage,  amounted  to  a  declaration,  by  the  ma 
jority  of  the  Senate,  that  he  was  guilty  of  an  impeachable 
offence.  As  such  it  was  spread  upon  the  journals  of  the 
Senate — published  to  the  nation  and  the  world, — made  part 
of  our  enduring  archives — and  incorporated  in  the  history  of 
the  age. 

The  Constitution  makes  the  House  of  Representatives  the 
exclusive  judges,  in  the  first  instance,  of  the  question,  whether 
the  President  has  committed  an  impeachable  offence.  But, 
according  to  the  argument  of  the  President,  a  majority  of  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  285 

Senate,  whose  interference  with  this  preliminary  question 
had  been  studiously  excluded,  anticipated  the  action  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  not  only  assumed  the  function 
that  belongs  exclusively  to  that  body,  but  converted  them 
selves  into  accusers,  witnesses,  counsel  and  judges. 

The  argument  of  the  Protest  was  most  ingenious,  and  highly 
creditable  to  its  distinguished  author.  He  defended,  with 
great  force  of  logic,  two  positions:  1st.  That  the  Executive, 
under  the  constitution  and  the  laws,  was  the  sole  custodian  of 
the  public  funds  ;  and  2dly,  that  even  on  the  supposition  the 
President  had  assumed  an  illegal  power  in  the  removal  of  the 
deposites,  the  Senate  had  no  right,  by  resolution,  in  that  or 
any  other  case,  to  express  disapprobation  of  the  President's- 
conduct.  He  was  amenable  to  the  action  of  neither  House 
of  Congress,  unless  by  the  constitutional  method  of  impeach 
ment. 

The  introduction  of  the  Protest  into  the  Senate  opened  wide 
again  the  flood-gates  of  debate.  All  who  had  spoken  before 
plunged  in  now,  and  some  with  greater  vehemence.  The  ex 
citement  in  the  Senate  was  intense,  and  occasionally  irrepres 
sible.  Mr.  Leigh,  of  Va.,  concluding  a  speech,  with  a  glow 
ing  encomium  upon  Mr.  Clay  for  his  services  in  getting 
through  the  tariff  compromise  act  of  1833,  "  brought  down1' 
the  galleries.  The  cheering  and  mingled  hisses  were  so"  vio 
lent,  that  the  Vice-President  ordered  the  galleries  to  be 
cleared;  and  while  the  sergeant-at-arms  was  proceeding  in 
the  execution  of  the  order,  the  noise  and  disturbance  became 


286  CHAPTER    XIII. 

yet  more  outrageous.  Some  names  were  vociferated,  with 
tumultuous  approbation — others,  with  as  vehement  vitupera 
tion  ;  and,  among  the  latter,  the  name  of  the  President.  This 
excited  the  indignation  of  Col.  Benton,  who  moved  that  "  the 
Bank-ruffians"  that  had  committed  the  outrage  should  be 
taken  into  custody,  accompanying  his  motion  with  remarks 
emphatically  condemnatory  of  the  rioters.  Mr.  Moore,  of 
Ala.,  thought  the  motion  unnecessary,  as  it  could  not  fee 
carried  out.  The  whole  gallery  must  be  arrested,  or  no  one — 
for  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish,  amid  so  much  confusion, 
the  innocent  from  the  guilty.  But  Mr.  Benton,  with  some 
warmth,  insisted  on  his  motion,  upon  which  he  demanded  the 
ayes  and  noes  ;  and  they  were  ordered  accordingly. 

Mr.  Clayton,  as  soon  as  he  could  make  himself  heard  be 
yond  the  noise  on  the  floor  as  well  as  in  the  galleries,  regretted 
the  motion  had  been  made,  but  since  it  had  been,  he  should 
vote  against  it.  He  did  not  regard  the  disturbance  as  an  in 
tended  contempt  of  the  Senate,  but  only  as  an  indiscreet  ex 
pression  of  public  opinion. 

Mr.  Benton  replied,  that  the  terms  in  which  he  expressed 
his  motion  were  so  distinct  as  not  to  be  misunderstood.  He 
would  not  be  misunderstood.  He  did  not  move  to  take  into 
custody  those,  who,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  had  applauded 
the  sentiments  of  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  but  those,  who, 
long  after  the  gentleman  had  taken  his  seat,  had  continued  to 
outrage  and  insult  the  Senate. 

While  motions  were  made    to  adjourn,   and  to   lay  Col 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  287 

Benton's  motion  on  the  table,  the  chair  pronouncing  them 
severally  out  of  order,  the  galleries  became  cleared.  The 
Senate  then  assumed  a  more  pacific  aspect,  and  order  was 
recovered.  Mr.  Benton  withdrew  his  motion,  because  the 
galleries  being  all  cleared,  he  said,  there  was  no  one  upon  whom 
it  could  operate. 

While  the  debate  maintained  a  personal  character,  and 
seemed  used  but  as  an  opportunity  for  the  display  of  angry 
feeling  on  either  side,  Mr.  Webster  continued  silent.  His 
object  was  to  discourage,  not  to  foment,  prejudices — to  miti 
gate  and  not  to  exasperate  passions  already  dangerously  ex 
cited  ;  and  it  was  not  till  men's  minds  had  been  brought, 
mostly  by  his  example  and  remonstrance,  to  a  temperature 
susceptible  of  dispassionate  argument,  that  he  arose  to  address 
the  Senate. 

In  his  exordium,  he  spoke  of  the  President  in  the  language 
of  respect — from  which  he  did  not  deviate  in  any  part  of  his 
argument :  "  Unhappily,  sir,  the  Senate  finds  itaelf  involved 
in  a  controversy  with  the  President  of  the  United  States; 
a  man  who  has  rendered  most  distinguished  services  to  his 
country,  has  hitherto  possessed  a  degree  of  popular  favor  per 
haps  never  excelled,  and  whose  honesty  of  motive  and  integrity 
of  purpose  are  still  maintained  by  those  who  admit  that  his 
administration  has  fallen  into  lamentable  errors," 

Thus,  while  persons,  once  his  friends,  were  assailing  Gen 
Jackson's  motives  and  ferociously  denouncing  his  policy,  Mr 
>Vesbster,  never  other  than  his  political  opponent,  always 


2S8  CHAPTER    XIII. 

conceded  the  honesty  of  his  intentions  even  when  compelled 
by  his  convictions  to  oppose  his  measures. 

The  Senate — he  said  in  this  speech — regarded  the  direct 
interposition  of  the  President  in  the  removal  of  the  deposites, 
as  an  interference  with  the  legislative  disposition  of  the  public 
treasure.  Every  encroachment,  great  or  small,  was  important 
enough  to  awaken  the  attention  of  those  who  were  intrusted 
with  the  preservation  of  a  Constitutional  Government.  It 
was  in  this  relation  that  he  expressed  his  thoughts  in  sentences 
that  have  been  pronounced  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
energetic,  in  any  of  his  works.  Speaking  of  the  resistance 
made  by  our  ancestors  to  the  assertion  of  the  right  of  Parlia 
ment  to  tax  them,  he  said  :  "It  was  against  the  recital  of  an 
act  of  Parliament,  rather  than  any  suffering  under  its  enact 
ments,  that  they  took  up  arms.  They  went  to  war  against  a 
preamble.  They  fought  seven  years  against  a  declaration. 
They  poured  out  their  treasures  and  their  blood  like  water,  in 
a  contest  in  opposition  to  an  assertion  which  those  less  sa 
gacious,  and  not  so  well  schooled  in  the  principles  of  civil 
liberty,  would  have  regarded  as  barren  phraseology,  or  mere 
parade  of  words.  They  saw  in  the  claim  of  the  British  Par 
liament  a  seminal  principle  of  mischief,  the  germ  of  unjust 
power  ;  they  detected  it,  dragged  it  forth  from  underneath  its 
plausible  disguises,  struck  at  it ;  nor  did  it  elude  their  steady 
eye,  or  their  well  directed  blow,  till  they  had  extirpated  and 
destroyed  it  to  the  smallest  fibre.  On  this  question  of  prin 
ciple,  while  actual  suffering  was  yet  afar  off,  they  raised  their 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  289 

flag  against  a  power,  to  which,  for  purposes  of  foreign  con 
quest  and  subjugation,  Rome,  in  the  height  of  her  glory,  is 
not  to  be  compared — a  power  which  has  dotted  over  the  sur 
face  of  the  whole  globe  with  her  possessions  and  military  posts, 
whose  morning  drum-beat,  following  the  sun,  and  keeping 
company  with  the  hours,  circles  the  earth  daily  with  one  con 
tinuous  and  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial  airs  of  England." 
In  reply  to  the  claim  of  the  President,  that  the  Executive 
had  the  sole  control  of  the  public  funds,  Mr.  "Webster  said  in 
his  argument :  "  Mr.  President,  the  Executive  claim  of  power 
is  exactly  this,  that  the  President  may  keep  the  money  of  the 
public  in  whatever  banks  he  chooses,  on  whatever  terms  he 
chooses,  and  to  apply  the  sums  which  those  banks  are  willing 
to  pay  for  its  use  to  whatever  purposes  he  chooses.  These 
sums  are  not  to  come  into  the  general  treasury.  They  are  to 
be  appropriated  before  they  get  there  ;  they  are  never  to  be 
brought  under  the  control  of  Congress ;  they  are  to  be  paid 
to  officers  and  agents  not  known  to  the  law,  not  nominated  to 
the  Senate,  and  responsible  to  nobody  but  the  Executive  itself. 
I  ask  gentlemen  if  all  this  be  lawful  ?  Are  they  prepared  to 
defend  it  ?  "Will  they  stand  up  and  justify  it  ?  In  my  opin 
ion,  sir,  it  is  a  clear  and  most  dangerous  assumption  of  power. 
It  is  the  creation  of  office  without  law ;  the  appointment  to 
office  without  consulting  the  Senate  ;  the  establishment  of  a 
salary  without  law ;  and  the  payment  of  that  salary  out  of  a 
fund  which  itself  is  derived  from  the  use  of  the  public 

treasures  " 

13* 


290  CHAPTER    Xllf. 

In  truth,  the  argument  of  Mr.  Webster  on  this  point  con 
cludes  the  question  ;  and  leaves  the  act  of  the  President  to 
the  defensive  plea  of  necessity — a  necessity  clear,  cogent,  and 
imperative  ;  that  admitted  of  no  delay,  and  tolerated  no  alter 
native.  It  was  upon  this  ground  alone  that  his  friends  finally 
defended  it ;  and  upon  this  alone  will  it  generally  be  held 
defensible  by  posterity. 

The  other  argument  of  the  Protest  that  the  Senate  had  no 
right  to  express  disapprobation  of  the  President's  conduct, 
Mr.  "Webster  combatted,  with  brief  but  emphatic  logic.  "  We 
need  not  look  far,"  he  said,  "nor  look  deep,  for  the  founda 
tion  of  this  right  in  the  Senate.  It  is  clearly  visible  and 
close  at  hand.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  the  right  of  self- 
defence.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  a  right  founded  on  the 
duty  of  representative  bodies,  in  a  free  government,  to  defend 
the  public  liberty  against  encroachment.  We  must  presume 
that  the  Senate  honestly  entertained  the  opinion  expressed  in 
the  resolution  of  the  28th  of  March ;  and,  entertaining  that 
opinion,  its  right  to  express  it  is  but  a  necessary  consequence 
of  its  right  to  defend  its  own  constitutional  authority,  as  one 
branch  of  the  Government.  This  is  its  clear  right,  and  this, 

too,  is  its  imperative  duty. 

#*;&##* 

The  Senate  has  acted  not  in  its  judicial,  but  in  its  legisla 
tive  capacity.  As  a  legislative  body,  it  has  defended  its  own 
just  authority,  and  the  authority  of  the  other  branch  of  the 
Legislature.  Whatever  attacks  our  own  rights  or  privileges, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  291 

o*  whatever  encroaches  on  the  power  of  both  Houses,  we  may 
oppose  and  resist,  by  declaration,  resolution,  or  other  similar 
proceedings.  If  we  look  to  the  books  of  precedents,  if  we 
examine  the  journals  .of  legislative  bodies,  we  find  everywhere 
instances  of  such  proceedings." 

Tho  speech  on  the  Protest,  received  a  no  less  distinguished 
and  ardent  reception  in  the  country  generally,  than  the 
speeches  in  reply  to  Hayne,  and  on  the  Force  Bill.  Equally 
with  these,  it  responded  to  the  dominant  sentiment  of  the 
people.  Persons  of  all  political  opinions,  and  of  various  pur 
suits,  addressed  Mr.  "Webster  thanks  for  the  effort.  Some  of 
the  most  eminent  jurists  and  statesmen  of  the  nation  preferred 
him  their  warmest  approbation ; — among  whom  were  Chan 
cellor  Kent  of  New  York,  and  Littleton  "W.  Tazewell  of 
Virginia ;  differing  on  most  subjects  of  constitutional  law, 
they  agreed  fully  upon  this.  "  I  had  just  finished,"  writes 
Chancellor  Kent  to  Mr.  Webster  some  days  after  the  speech 
was  delivered,  "  the  rapturous  perusal  of  your  speech  on  the 
Protest  as  appearing  in  the  Intelligencer  of  Saturday,  when  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  it  from  you  in  a  pamphlet  form. 
I  never  had  a  greater  treat  than  the  reading  of  that  speech 
this  morning.  You  never  equalled  this  effort.  It  surpasses 
everything  in  logic — in  simplicity  and  beauty  and  energy  of 
diction — in  clearness — in  rebuke — in  sarcasm — in  patriotic 
and  glowing  feelings — in  just  and  profound  constitutional 
views — in  critical  severity  and  matchless  strength.  It  is  worth 
millions  to  our  liberties." 


292  CHAPTER    XIII. 

And  Gov.  Tazewell,  writing  to  Mr.  Tyler  says :  "  Toll 
Webster  from  me  that  I  have  real  his  speech  in  the  National 
Intelligencer,  with  more  pleasure  than  any  I  have  lately  seen. 
If  the  approbation  of  it  by  one  who  has  not  been  used  to 
coincide  with  him  in  opinion  can  be  grateful  to  him,  he  has 
mine  in  extenso.  I  agree  with  him  perfectly,  and  thank  him 
cordially  for  his  many  excellent  illustrations  of  what  I  always 
thought.  If  it  is  published  in  pamplet  form,  beg  him  to 
send  me  one.  I  will  have  it  bound  in  good  Russia  leather, 
and  will  leave  it  as  a  special  legacy  to  my  children." 

That  the  merits  of  this  speech  as  a  constitutional  argument 
should  have  been  so  earnestly  impressed  upon  two  persons  of 
euch  distinguished  and  yet  diverse  opinions  in  relation  to  con 
stitutional  questions,  is  no  ordinary  proof  of  its  profound 
truthfulness.  For  while  sophistry  presents  many  phases,  and 
is  viewed  in  various  and  changeful  light,  truth,  to  the  thought 
ful  and  sagacious,  has  but  one  aspect,  and  is  immutable.  The 
argument  on  the  Protest,  as  the  exposition  of  sound,  patent, 
constitutional  doctrine,  has  its  equal  nowhere — not  even  in 
any  previous  or  subsequent  effort  of  Mr.  Webster  himself. 

These  three  great  speeches  of  Mr.  Webster, — the  Reply  to 
Hayne,  the  speech  on  the  Force  Bill,  and  upon  the  Protest — 
are,  mo&t  undoubtedly,  the  best  exposition  of  constitutional 
law  ever  given  to  the  country.  They  constitute  a  chart  of 
government.  And,  as  in  the  ancient  days  of  Rome,  the 
magistrates,  whenever  danger  pressed  the  eternal  eitj,  con 
sulted  the  Sybilline  Books,  to  know  what  measures  of  safety 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  293 

ko  pursue,  so,  under  our  government,  with  us,  and  with 
posterity,  these  inspired  productions  of  his  great  mind,  in 
time  of  peril  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  will  ever  be 
resorted  to  as  the  only  hope  or  means  of  preservation.  By 
their  saving  guidance,  THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  UNION, 
"  one  and  inseparable,"  may  survive  every  storm,  and  ride 
victorious  through  every  gale. 

Attachment  to  the  Union  of  the  States  has  amounted  with 
Mr.  Webster  to  a  passion.  It  was  his  earliest  love  and  will 
endure  to  his  latest  breath.  In  whatever  situation  he  has. 
been  placed,  it  has  filled  his  heart  and  controlled  his  conduct. 
He  was  made  everything,  in  public  life,  subsidiary  to  this. 
It  has  grown  with  his  growth,  and  strengthened  with  his 
strength,  till  it  has  become  a  part  of  his  moral  being. 

The  past  is  security  for  the  future — no  matter  how  much 
his  motives  may  be  arraigned,  his  conduct  vilified,  or  his  per 
sonal  feelings  outraged,  he  will  maintain,  steadfast  and  un 
shaken,  his  devotion  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  He 
will  neither  forego  nor  qualify  that  ardent  devotion,  at  the 
instigation  of  angry  clamor,  or  be  diverted  a  hair's-breadth 
from  his  consistent  course,  by  the  frowns  or  smiles  of  power, 
whether  centered  in  one  man  or  the  million.  He  knows  no 
change.  He  takes  no  step  backwards,  whatever  denunciation 
or  whatever  blandishments  surround  him,  he  will  be  true, 
whoever  else  is  faithless.  As  well  might  we  expect  the 
NORTH  STAR, — in  all  time,  that  unsubsidized  guide  to  the 
mariner, — to  withhold  his  light  and  refuse  to  shine,  because 


294  CHAPTER    XIII 

the   needle,  with   fickle    polarity,  inclines  to    some    other 
luminary. 

"I  am,"  he  says  now  as  he  said  before,  " where  I  have 
ever  been,  and  ever  mean  to  be.  Standing  on  the  platform 
of  the  general  Constitution — a  platform,  broad  enough,  and 
firm  enough,  to  uphold  every  interest  of  the  whole  country — 
I  shall  still  be  found.  Intrusted  with  some  part  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  that  Constitution,  I  intend  to  act  in  its  spirit 
and  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  framed  it.  I  would  act  as  if 
our  fathers  who  formed  it  for  us,  and  who  bequeathed  it  to 
us,  were  looking  on  me — as  if  I  could  see  their  venerable 
forms  bending  down  to  behold  us  from  the  abodes  above. 
I  would  act  too  as  if  the  eye  of  posterity  was  gazing  on  me. 
"Standing  thus,  as  in  the  full  gaze  of  our  ancestors  and  our 
posterity,  having  received  this  inheritance  from  the  former,  to 
be  transmitted  to  the  latter,  and  feeling  that,  if  I  am  formed 
for  any  good,  in  my  day  and  generation,  it  is  for  the  good  of 
the  whole  country,  no  local  policy  or  local  feeling,  no  tempo 
rary  impulse,  shall  induce  me  to  yield  my  foothold  on  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union. 

"  I  came  into  public  life  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
On  that  broad  altar,  my  earliest,  and  all  my  public  vows, 
have  been  made.  I  propose  to  serve  no  other  master.  So 
far  as  depends  on  any  agency  of  mine,  they  shall  continue 
United  States  ;  united  in  interest  and  affection ;  united  in 
everything  in  regard  to  which  the  Constitution  has  decreed 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  295 

their  union ;  united  in  war,  for  the  common  defence,  the 
common  renown,  and  the  common  glory ;  and  united,  com 
pacted,  knit  firmly  together  in  peace,  for  the  common  pros 
perity  and  happiness  of  ourselves  and  our  children." 


14  DAY  USE 

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